Sure, the legal terms "income tax" is relatively recent (and VAT more so). But they're just new names for taxes that already existed. The written record of inco

Sure, the legal terms "income tax" is relatively recent (and VAT more so). But they're just new names for taxes that already existed. The written record of income and commercial transaction taxes dates back to Hammurabi (1700s BC) and Egypt's Old Kingdom (3000 BC). (https://almanac.upenn.edu/archive/v48/n28/AncientTaxes.html https://almanac.upenn.edu/archive/v48/n28/AncientTaxes.html)