Tax Code

Ahh, complaining about taxes. It's one of the standards in tired situational comedy, along with talking about how airplanes are uncomfy (really, now?) and the DMV is the eighth ring of hell (huh: that's a revolutionary observation).

And although people in the 18th Century didn't have to worry about airplane seat size (because they had to worry about taking several weeks to cross the Atlantic via ship) and didn't have to go to the DMV (because they had to deal with horses and their nasty huge teeth), they did protest against the Stamp Act. And you all know how that turned out.

The law itself is so boring it's like 18th Century scientists were trying to invent a new kind of boredom. But this law isn't supposed to be fun—it's more about being as precise as it can possibly be. When you think about the work that went into it, then realize it was repealed a year later, it's kind of funny…in a "You wasted so much time on this and we totally could have told you it would never work" kind of way.

The first section tells exactly how much everything costs. Since this is a tax law, and the tax is on specific goods, this is pretty important to have on there. It was never built to last, though, as inflation would end up changing all of this. (That's a silver lining for the law lasting such a short time, we guess.)

Then you need to have clarifications. Certain documents don't fit easily into any one category. So those gray areas have to be cleaned up. You also need penalties for violating the statute, as it is a law. Unlike modern taxes, it's not collected at the end of the year.

Think of it closer to how snail mail works. You're paying a price to ship your letter or parcel, but that cash goes to the government. It's a tax. And what's your receipt? A stamp. Same thing.

In any case, what's on the law is what's needed, but man: it's a beast to read.

How it Breaks Down

A Litany of Prices

This is the first part (the part without the Roman numerals). It tells you how much tax you have to pay on each stamped item, according to type. It's pretty straightforward.

Punishments and Gray Areas

Not everything is going to line up perfectly with the categories listed in the first part. You're going to need clarification in those cases. Also, since this is a law, you need to have the penalties should you break it. The Stamp Act wanted to make certain there were no gray areas left when it was done.