Both have been with us for thousands of years. It is believed that the idea of tokens as a means of exchange first emerged in Babylonian civilizations by the river Euphrates more than five thousand years ago. The idea of formalizing exchange was a necessary one to allow the development of farming societies where barter or gift exchange was not a practical option. The history of taxation and money is a long and rich one.

To assign values to goods and services a token allowed rapid development and exchange of ideas as the entire economy became linked for the first time. Groups with nothing to exchange with one another for services could now cooperate. Things and people also has an external value for the first time.

In more recent history tax has come to be a means to pay not just for use of roads and land, but also a contribution to society as a whole. With the rise of the nation state and the settled economy, tax has in some societies also been used as a way to balance society as a whole. Rather than protecting the rich it has become a means to alleviate poverty.

The idea of these exchanges has changed a great deal through the ages, coming to represent a great variety in sizes of areas and populations. Traditionally it’s value is based on a set amount of gold that the nation owns. As markets have become more and more complex, so has the relationships between metal and material objects, with values often being decided on fairly abstract levels.

Cash plays less and less of a part in people’s lives. Due largely to advances in technology the exchange of capital has become far removed from actual physical reality that it aims to represent. Deregulation of money trading has created a market with no physical value, a ghost almost.

Taxation is also an aspect of human behavior that is changing rapidly. Whereas the original taxes were paid to landowners and protection rackets, governments are beginning to replace them. The key difference is that government has a mandate from the people rather than simply the ownership of the land. Although not always the reality, the idea is that governments collect taxes to represent the people rather than themselves.

The economy is 1000s of years old and taxation is even older. For something that is so central to so many people’s lives, it is amazing how many people have no idea about the history of taxation and money.

Check out our article to learn more about the history of taxation and money . You can also get more information about the benefits of hiring accountants and tips on where to find reliable accounants London online, now!

Tags: Accounting, Banks, Budget, credit, debt, Entrepreneur, finance, financial advice, Investments, Loans, Money, savings

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Posted in Entrepreneur by David Parsons No Comments Yet