Tax collector

Also known as SANTA

Taxes

In the Glorious Kingdom of Eglen the Royal taxes are due one week after the midwinter solstice. Taxes will be collected by a tax collector going from door to door. But the King doesn't have time to do that himself, he's got the midwinter festival to enjoy. Neither does he want to spend the money to hire people to do that for him. So special companies exist that collect the taxes on behalf of the King. These companies have to buy a special charter to be allowed to do so. But those charters are not cheap and need to be renewed every six years. These tax collector companies are, by their charter, allowed to raise the due amount of taxes with a maximum of thirty-three per cent to earn money for themselves.

Red coated SANTA

To stand out from other dept collectors, the tax collectors, who are known as SANTAs. After the official name on the royal tax collecting charter: Special ANual Tax Aquirer. Wear red great coat lined with white fur. A big black belt is used to close the coat. A bell is often stuck behind the belt when they don't use the bell to announce their arrival in a town or street.

Sleigh and ELFs

Sleighs (Secure Locomotion Enabled Income Gathering veHicle) are steam powered vehicles produced by Barton & Lucas - Eglen's First Self Powered Wagon Company. They are based on the undercarriage of their famous YCK-67 but the top parts are specially designed for collecting taxes in winter condition. Basically, they are a vault on tracks, with a boiler and operating cab in front of it. The compound steam engine is situated under the seats of the cab between the tracks. The vehicle is designed, so it's easy to manoeuvre through streets and allies but can also make high-speed jumps in case the SANTA or the tax money is threatened. The sleighs are maintained and operated by assistants of the SANTA.

These are strong rough men who, besides driving the sleigh, are there also there to protect the sleigh against nosey people, and help the tax collector 'persuade' people who don't want to pay. Normally, they wear green short coats and red pants. In the collecting business, they are known as ELFs; Engineer and Levy enForcers.

List

To know how much tax every household is expected to pay, a list is made by the local government. The taxes are based on how much every person is assumed to have earned the previous year. If a person has committed a crime or has otherwise been a nuisance to society, the amount may be raised.

A household's position on the list can be inspected on midwinter's day in the Townhall. The week of time between the publication of the list and the collection of taxes is there for anyone to request a second checking, if they feel that the amount is wrong. A person then has to bring proof and statements showing their actual income, and pay a small fee to the local government to recalculate the taxes.

Coal

If a household does not have the money or other valueables to fullfill the amount of tax. A SANTA has the right to remove all coal and other fuel from the house or business, to compensate his loss for the pointless visit, theoretically the coal is used to power the steam engines of the Bratag pulling the sleigh on the second visit to collect the tax.

Children

If there's also no coal or other fuel, taxes can be payed by performing labour. But a SANTA is not allowed to enforce the primary income gatherer of a household to do labour. They can, however, enforce a junior member of the household into labour. These people, usually a son or sons of a household, are then sent to the coal mines to work until the tax amount is fulfilled.

Tax amount

Currently, the Royal tax is set to one per cent of a household's annual income. Duchy and town taxes can be different, but are not allowed to be higher than the Royal tax. So the maximum amount is three per cent. It is actually very rare that people are required to perform labour because they cannot pay. Households that only have female adults living in them are exempt from annual taxes.

Stars

To help the SANTAs find their way during the dark winter time, houses place a candle behind a window to illuminate the way to their door. Often these candles are placed in a lantern which is shaped like a star, that can be hung high in the window to give the best lighting.

Type

Private Services

Oddity

In the Dutchy of Larkin the SANTAs do not wear a red great coat but they wear a great coat in a light shade of blue. Also as steam power is illigal in the northern most dutchy of Eglen, they use a sled pulled by animals.