Magna Carta Taxation
About Magna Carta Taxation
Magna Carta, signed in 1215, limited the power of King John to impose taxes without consent. Clause 12 stated that no scutage or aid would be imposed without common counsel of the realm. This established the principle that taxation required representation. The barons who forced John to sign Magna Carta were protesting arbitrary royal taxation, especially scutage payments, feudal reliefs, and tallages. Magna Carta established that the king could not tax arbitrarily. This principle evolved into the English Bill of Rights in 1689 and influenced the American colonists opposition to British taxation. The phrase no taxation without representation traces directly to Magna Carta.
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