An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of a national (book five Of the Revenue of the Sovereign)
Taxes upon consumable Commodities Adam smith in his open statement on taxes upon consumable commodities said “The government cannot tax the people according to their revenue but directly tax them based on their expenses”. Here Revenue refers to the total amount generated from normal business operations calculated as the average sales price. EXPENSES: Are the cost incurred in or required for something. The above quotation seeks to explain that the state is unable to tax individuals as per how they earn but rather tax them as per how they spend consumable commodities meaning any food or beverage product which is offered for human or animal consumption. He further explained how inferior people (blacks) consume the highest amount of goods not only in quantity but also in value for example a creditable laborer will be ashamed to appear in public who earn small amount of money will be ashamed to appear in public without a linen the same goes for a leather shoe in England. Also in Scotland cu...