Daylight Robbery: How Tax Shaped Our Past and Will Change Our Future

Why the way we are taxed is broken - and what we need to do to make it work now and in the future Death and taxes are our inevitable fate. We've been told this since the beginning of civilisation. But what if we stopped to question our antiquated system? Is it fair? And is it capable of serving the needs of our rapidly-changing, modern society? In Daylight Robbery, Dominic Frisby traces the origins of taxation, from its roots in the ancient world, through to today. He explores the role of tax in the formation of our global religions, the part tax played in wars and revolutions throughout the ages, why, at one stage, we paid tax for daylight or for growing a beard. Ranging from the despotic to the absurd, the tax laws of the past reveal so much about how we got to where we are today and what we can do to build a system fit for the future.

About the Author :
Dominic Frisby is perhaps the world's only financial writer and comedian. He writes a weekly investment column for Moneyweek about gold. He has also written for publications including the Guardian and the Independent. His one man show, Let's Talk About Tax was a hit at the Edinburg Fringe Festival and was turned into a book, Daylight Robbery. He has hosted two financial comedy shows for BBC Radio 4, More Money than Sense with Andy Zatzman, Shazia Mirza and Paul Sinha and Damned Lies with Sir David Spiegelhalter. His substack, The Flying Frisby, has 10,000 subscribers, is one of the UK's most popular financial Substacks.

Review :
With dazzling clarity, Frisby illuminates just how much of history is explained by arguments over tax, from Magna Carta to the American civil war to today's political debates. This entertaining, surprising, contrarian book is a tour de force An engaging and informative trip through tax history that leads on to some radical suggestions for the future. A must-read for anyone thinking about how our tax system should be structured A real page-turner! Dominic Frisby's historical interpretation and utopian ideas will outrage Left and Right. Both should read this book! In this spectacular gallop through history, Frisby shows how taxation has warped, stunted and thwarted human progress. An absolute must-read for anyone who thinks higher taxes are the answer to our ills. Should be compulsory reading for anyone who aspires to high political office! A fascinating book which exposes the political and economic basis of tax. A must read for those of us who believe in simpler, lower taxes It has been said that the income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government. Dominic Frisby masterfully delves into the fascinating topic of taxation, vividly bringing it to life An utterly gripping account of the impact of taxes on the course of civilisation A fantastic education on the surprising ways tax policies have shaped mankind's past and will impact our future A brilliant book full of insights into how governments have fleeced us down the ages. This is a must read for anyone interested in how technology might at last tilt things back in favour of the citizen rather than the state How when and where we pay tax affects everything - how and where we work, how we save, when we retire, whether we marry or not, whether we live in houses we own or not and sometimes even how many children we have. Few of us think properly about the way this shapes our lives and societies. With this well-written and hugely engaging book Dominic Frisby might be about to change that