A tax collector (also called a taxman) is a person who collects unpaid

taxes A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

from other people or corporations on behalf of a

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

. The term could also be applied to those who

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon." Auditing al ...

tax return A tax return is a form on which a person or organization presents an account of income and circumstances, used by the tax authorities to determine liability for tax. Tax returns are usually processed by each country's tax authority, known as ...

s or work for a revenue agency. Tax collectors are often portrayed negatively, and in the modern world share a similar stereotype to that of

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

History

Historically taxes were collected directly by the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

or ruler of a

State State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

. As states and administrative regions grew larger this task was outsourced to

aristocrats Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

or dedicated tax collectors.

Ancient Rome

In the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

, taxes were collected from individuals based on the value of their total property. However, since it was extremely difficult to facilitate the collection of the tax, the government auctioned the collection of taxes every year. The winning tax farmers (called

publicani The (Latin language, Latin ; Ancient Greek, Greek τελώνης ''telōnēs'') were public contractors in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, Empire. In their official capacity, they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed t ...

) paid the tax revenue to the government in advance and then kept the taxes collected from individuals. The publicani paid the tax revenue in coins, but collected the taxes using other exchange media, thus relieving the government of the work to carry out the currency conversion themselves.

Christian Bible

Tax collectors, also known as

publican The (Latin ; Greek τελώνης ''telōnēs'') were public contractors in the Roman Republic and Empire. In their official capacity, they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw pub ...

s, are mentioned many times in

the Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writte ...

(mainly in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

). They were reviled by the Jews of Jesus' day because of their perceived greed and collaboration with the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

occupiers. Tax collectors amassed personal wealth by demanding tax payments in excess of what Rome levied and keeping the difference. They worked for tax farmers. In the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

sympathizes with the tax collector

Zacchaeus Zacchaeus (sometimes spelled Zaccheus; , '; , "pure, innocent") was a chief tax-collector at Jericho in the Bible. He is known primarily for his faith in climbing a sycamore tree to see Jesus and also his generosity in giving away half of all ...

, causing outrage from the crowds that Jesus would rather be the guest of a sinner than of a more respectable or " righteous" person.

Matthew the Apostle Matthew the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles, twelve apostles of Jesus. According to Christian traditions, he was also one of the four Evangelists as author of the Gospel of Matthew, and thus is also known as Matthew the Evangelist. Th ...

in the New Testament was a tax collector.

Historical tax collectors

Simon Affleck Major Simon Affleck (ca. 1660 in Narva, present-day Estonia – 9 May 1725 in Pielisjärvi, present-day Finland) was a Swedish tax official, of Scottish descent, who worked in then Swedish-ruled Finland. He is remembered in Finnish folk traditi ...

- Was a Swedish tax official who worked in then Swedish-ruled Finland. Affleck is said to have been a ruthless collector of taxes with little pity towards the poor Finnish peasants. He is said to have shot himself in the head in his mansion to deny the Finnish peasants raiding his mansion the satisfaction of killing him. *

Jacob Gaón Jacob Gaón (born in Vitoria, Spain, died in Tolosa, Spain, 1463) was a Jewish Basque tax collector.Antoine Lavoisier Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794), When reduced without charcoal, it gave off an air which supported respiration and combustion in an enhanced way. He concluded that this was just a pure form of common air and that i ...

- A

French nobleman The French nobility () was an aristocratic social class in France from the Middle Ages until its abolition on 23 June 1790 during the French Revolution. From 1808 to 1815 during the First Empire the Emperor Napoléon bestowed titles that we ...

and chemist who at the age of 26 bought a share in the

Ferme générale The ''ferme générale'' (, "general farm") was, in ''ancien régime'' France, essentially an outsourced customs, excise and indirect tax operation. It collected duties on behalf of the King (plus hefty bonus fees for themselves), under renewable ...

, a tax farming financial company which advanced the estimated tax revenue to the royal government in return for the right to collect the taxes. Lavoisier was later convicted age 50 of tax fraud and executed at the

guillotine A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by Decapitation, beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secur ...

. *

John the Cappadocian John the Cappadocian () (''Floruit, fl.'' 530s, living 548) was a praetorian prefect of the East (532–541) in the Byzantine Empire under Byzantine Emperor, Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565). He was also a Patrikios, patrician and the ''Roman ...

- A Roman Praetorian Prefect of the East who served under Emperor Justinian and had worked previously for his predecessor Emperor Justin. He helped to raise new taxes, but this eventually resulted in the

Nika Riots The Nika riots (), Nika revolt or Nika sedition took place against Byzantine emperor Justinian I in Constantinople over the course of a week in 532 AD. They are often regarded as the most violent riots in the city's history, with nearly half of ...

in Constantinople. He fell from Justinian's grace, in part due to rivalries with other court officials and aristocrats and was stripped of his authority and exiled.

Modern tax collection

In modern times, collection is done by a dedicated government tax collection agency known as a revenue services, a revenue agency or a taxation authority.

Examples

Catchpole Catchpole is a surname and type of tax collector in medieval England. It is a combination of Old English (cace-, catch) and medieval Latin (pullus, a chick) and derives from the idea that people who owed tax were as difficult to catch as farmyard ...

District magistrate The district magistrate, also known as the district collector or deputy commissioner, is a career civil servant who serves as the executive head of a district's administration in India. The specific name depends on the state or union territo ...

* Privatized tax collection