Taxing Times - The Beard Tax: A Hairy History of Shaving & Society

Today, we're going to talk about one of the most bizarre taxes in history. The beard tax. Yes, you heard that right. There was a time when some men had to pay for the privilege of having facial hair. 

And no, this was not some hipster trend or a way to raise money for charity. This was a serious policy implemented by none other than Peter the Great, the Tsar of Russia in the 18th century.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Taxing Times, the podcast that explores the fascinating, controversial and often wacky history of taxation. I'm your host, Nupur Kumar, aka Super Nupur, a major tax and history nerd, and the managing partner, a fact professional, a CPA firm. Today, we're going to talk about one of the most bizarre taxes in history. The beard tax. Yes, you heard that right. There was a time when some men...

had to pay for the privilege of having facial hair. And no, this was not some hipster trend or a way to raise money for charity. This was a serious policy implemented by none other than Peter the Great, the Tsar of Russia in the 18th century. You may recognize Peter the Great's name from The Great, a satirical comedy on Hulu. And this included his descendant, Peter,

and Catherine the Great's life. Peter the Great wanted to modernize Russia and make it more like Western Europe. He introduced many reforms in education, industry, military, and culture. He also had a personal obsession with shaving. He believed that beards were a sign of backwardness and they were barbaric, and that clean shaven men were more civilized and enlightened. Shaving of the beard also

trimmed the church's influence and grew his own. So in 1698, he ordered his courtiers and nobles to shave their beards and even took a razor to some of them himself in royal court. He also decreed that anyone who wanted to keep their beard had to pay a yearly tax, which varied depending on their social status. The highest tax was 100 rubles for wealthy merchants.

which was equivalent to the annual salary of a common soldier. This was a very large tax while the lowest tax was two and a half kopek for peasants, which they had to pay every single time they entered a city. To enforce this tax, Peter issued special tokens or coins that men had to carry with them as proof of payment. These tokens had a picture of a beard and a nose on one side, and the words, the beard tax has been taken on the other. They also had a phrase on the edge of the coin that translated to the beard is a superfluous Burton, mocking the man rocking the beard. Believe it or not, if a man refused to pay the tax, they were forcibly shaved. Needless to say, this tax was very unpopular among many Russians, especially the Orthodox Church, which considered beards to be sacred and mandatory for men. Many people resisted shaving and paying the tax, and some even rioted against it. Peter's policy also caused diplomatic tensions with other countries, such as Sweden and Turkey, whose ambassadors refused to shave or pay the tax when they visited Russia. The beard tax remained in effect until 1772, when it was finally abolished by Catherine the Great, Peter's successor, meaning the beard tax was in place for a full 74 years. Now by then, beards had become more fashionable in Europe and many Russians, men, were very happy to grow them back. Some of the beard tokens still survive today as rare collector's items. Google the image of this coin. Trust me, it's hilarious.

This tax is intriguing because it showcases the scheme of influencing a nation's behavior by imposing a tax or credit, truly based on what the country's mission is. For Peter, it was to really push the country of Russia to have a more European feel and to become in what he believed was more civilized. In the US today, we get a tax credit for having children. Every year, those who have children that are under 17 and a half, receive the child tax credit per child. This encourages the attitude of the nation to grow the population. On the other hand, in China, it's the opposite where they wanted to slow down the population. So they imposed taxes from the 1980s onwards, discouraging the population from having more children. Countries use taxes and credits to incentivize or disincentive the desired behavior of the populace.

So what do you think of the beard tax? Was it a clever way to raise revenue and promote progress or a tyrannical violation of personal freedom and expression? Would you pay to keep your beard or shave it just to save some money? That's all for this episode of Taxing Times. You can follow us on Instagram at @factprofessional and send us a message for other podcast ideas.

For tax or accounting questions, you can email our office info@factprofessional.com. And don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform and leave a review. Thank you for listening and stay tuned for more taxing times.