Perhaps the profits were too great. Just as Hudson returned to his territory from the capital, the dark elf envoys came with gifts.
All of them were "special products" from the Earth Core World.
Since the tax official took station, the gifts prepared for Lord Ha became the only merchandise exempt from taxes.
"Elder Lutesya, the tax rate is a very complex issue.
The formulation of the tax laws in the Snow Moon Territory was settled after comprehensive considerations from multiple aspects.
The seventy percent tax rate you mentioned is not a single tax type but a combination of various taxes.
These include kingdom import tariffs, territory import tariffs, transit taxes, cart and shipping taxes, road construction taxes, transaction taxes, kingdom export tariffs... and the rare Other World import tariffs and continental import tariffs.
The single tax rates are not high; it’s mainly your special circumstances that have aggregated many taxes into one.
If adjustments are to be made, it will be necessary to revise the tax laws, which is by no means a task that can be completed overnight."
Out of regard for the gifts, Hudson patiently explained.
As a moral major noble, he would not impose charges arbitrarily; all taxes have a legal basis.
Though the laws were made by himself, they were nonetheless in accordance with legal procedures.
Such explanations, when they reached Elder Lutesya’s ears, took on a distorted meaning.
Just passing through the Snow Moon Territory required bearing over thirty kinds of taxes, which was simply extortionate.
The other types of taxes might be acceptable, but having an Other World import tariff seemed like there was cross-dimensional trade.
Obviously, this tax law was specially crafted against them.
Besides this, there were many other bizarre tax laws.
For example, the continental import tariff, which sounds reasonable, yet who has the authority to formulate and collect this tax!
The redundant and overlapping tax collections were more numerous, under normal circumstances transit taxes, import and export tariffs, and transaction taxes should not coexist.
Just borrowing a route, paying the transit tax should suffice.
Taxes such as transaction taxes and import tariffs would arise only when goods were sold within the territory, while transit taxes and export tariffs would not apply.
These detailed issues would require professional tax law researchers to figure out.
Dark elves had frequent contact with humans, yet no one had educated them about tax law knowledge.
Or, despite knowing there was something wrong with the taxes collected, they did not know how to appeal.
Other than Hudson himself, presumably, no one knew that this lord was a master who strictly adhered to territorial laws.
To outsiders, the territory’s taxation was entirely at the discretion of the noble lord. The taxes levied on dark elves by the Snow Moon Territory’s tax department now were authorized by Hudson.
In fact, Hudson only found out about the seventy percent exorbitant tax rate after receiving protests from the dark elves.
The previous actions were all decided autonomously by his subordinates.
Each department had performance assessments, and the tax department was no exception.
Most industries in the Snow Moon Territory were private properties of Master Hudson, and no one dared reach out indiscriminately when calculating tax rates.
Commercial transactions in the populace were also protected by tax laws; if any trouble ensued, the consequences would indeed be pursued.
The dark elves, being a bountiful source, were quickly targeted.
Initially, everyone was just probing; unexpectedly, the dark elves complied and paid the taxes without negotiating specifics with them.
With the first successful collection, the tax rate the dark elves faced was then locked at seventy percent.
Not taking advantage of resources from different races would have been a missed opportunity, and even the most conscientious tax official had no intention of informing the dark elves of their double taxation and the possibility of applying for a tax refund.
After several months of this mistake-turned-practice, the dark elves finally couldn’t stand it!
At a seventy percent tax rate, no matter how abundant the mineral resources of the Earth Core World might be, most of them lost their exploitation value. Chapters first released on novelFɪre.net
Especially the bulk minerals, even if refined in the Earth Core World and transported to the surface world, they no longer had cost-effectiveness.
Under these circumstances, although the tax rates borne by the dark elves were high, the amount of actual goods tax paid was not much.
However, because of their rarity, these "special products" held immense value on the Continent of Aslante, resulting in a dramatic spike in the performance of the tax department.
"Marshal, that’s not how you calculate the accounts.
A seventy percent exorbitant tax rate is a disaster for both of us.
At such a tax rate, we simply cannot engage in large-scale development of resources in the Earth Core World.
Aside from occasionally bringing some rare minerals, there wouldn’t be regular trade.
If Your Excellency could reduce the taxes, allowing us to be profitable, the development of resources in the Earth Core World would surely progress further.
By then, with increased total trade volume, even at lower tax rates, Your Excellency would still earn more!"
Elder Lutesya arduously persuaded.
She had no time to delve into the types of taxes.
Based on her understanding of human noble lords, these guys can devise taxes that haven’t been conceived yet but not taxes that can’t be collected.
Relatively speaking, the Snow Moon Territory was still considered normal.
At least there were no eating taxes, drinking water taxes, toilet taxes, window taxes, door-opening taxes, door-closing taxes, or even family taxes.
To be precise, the entire Alpha Kingdom had fewer bizarre tax types.
It wasn’t due to the benevolence of the noble lords, mainly because there were too few free men; almost everyone in the territory was serfs.
Serfs themselves were the property of the noble lords and naturally did not have to pay taxes.
When the cost of taxation exceeded the total revenue, making taxation unprofitable, the enthusiasm for formulating bizarre tax laws dwindled.