A salt tax is literally a tax levied directly on salt, usually proportional to the amount of salt purchased (e.g. by the pound). In ancient times, salt was extremely valuable as a preservant, and, in some cultures, nearly worth its weight in gold. Words such as salary are derived from the same root as salt and indicate its vitality to civilizations. As an example, ancient "salaries" could literally be quantities of salt.
Due to the rarity and importance of salt, levying a tax on its commerce was extremely lucrative, but also widely despised and controversial.
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Famous quotes containing the words salt and/or tax:
“Timon hath made his everlasting mansion
Upon the beached verge of the salt flood,
Who once a day with his embossed froth
The turbulent surge shall cover; thither come,
And let my grave-stone be your oracle.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Change of fashion is the tax levied by the industry of the poor on the vanity of the rich.”
—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)