Everyone is familiar with the federal income tax, state income taxes, and local property taxes, but there are many more. In the years since the Proposition 13 tax revolt in California, any proposal to increase taxes has drawn a firestorm of opposition from all sides. The admission by President George Bush during a reelection campaign speech that he was as likely to have to raise taxes as his challenger Bill Clinton is seen by some as a reason for his defeat.

Since then, every politician has been afraid to make any mention of tax increases. These days "revenue enhancements" have replaced tax increases and the government increasingly relies on "user fees" to fund such operations as federal and state parks. Any time a person drops a quarter in a highway toll booth or buys a fishing license, what they really are doing is paying a tax disguised as a fee.

Tariffs

This type of taxation is not new to the 21st century. For most of the history of the United States, the government has been funded by means other than the taxes we know today. Throughout most of the Colonial history of the country and the early days of the new United States, the workings of government were funded through high tariffs, or taxes paid on imported goods.

Another form of taxation employed through the country's history has been excise taxes. Excise taxes are imposed on the sale of specific goods or transactions. While there was a time when the government taxed such products as chewing gum, the main form of excise taxes have been so-called "sin taxes," primarily on alcoholic beverages and tobacco. Lawmakers have even gone so far as to say specifically these taxes were being levied to discourage the common man from overindulging in these vices.

Innovation

In the modern era, legislators have come up with some innovative ways of collecting revenue. One has been for states with professional sports teams to charge a tax on players on teams from out of state for the days they are there to play. With their high salaries, such levies produce a significant amount of revenue for the states without raising the ire of the general population, who generally believe athletes are overpaid to begin with.

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