"There is no tax on ass."

"There is no tax on ass," I told the girl, Portia, when she asked if she should be requesting three percent atop the three copper tarsks it costs for an ahn of her use.

That is not entirely true. The three percent tax is on property and on services. Prostituting slave girls falls squarely within the service industry. I suppose I could quibble and point out the fact that the girls are not providing a service, but in fact are saleable goods. They are, after all, 'owned' by the ahn. I see no point in arguing the finer points of the new levy, however. The cost of the girls will remain an even three copper per ahn (four for the blonde) and I will pay the tax from there. It is a simple calculation to derive the actual, pre-tax cost:

Actual Pre-Tax Cost = (3 copper tarsks)/(1.03) = 2.9126 C.T.

It is not a very tidy numer, but one verifies by multiplying 2.9126 by 1.03, producing an even 3 C.T. I can't very well have my whores asking for 2.9126 C.T. each time they are raped, but it is not too difficult to calculate the tax owed over the total of, say, a month's worth of earnings.

The real issue is the fairness of the levy. I've spoken to a number of people this past hand since the tax became effective. What is inescapable is this - if the tax is applied universally, across all castes and classes, it is not inherently illegal. The truth is, if the city wished to tax only one group of citizens or one particular district more heavily than others, I am not sure that is even illegal. Unfair, certainly, but not illegal. As a Magistrate of the People, however, I am duty-bound to speak on the behalf of those citizens.

Even so, it may be too late. I have yet to discover the identity of this 'Casca' that the People are rallying behind, but his men are in the street spreading the propaganda that the tax is simply to fund the vacations and villas of the current administration, many of which seem to be conveniently absent. I can sue for patience from one, two, even twenty, but I cannot stop the sentiment from growing. If there is corruption, I would not want to curb the civil unrest. I always come back to the mantra of 'fact and appearance.' What is true? What seems to be true? For example, it seems to be true that the properties of lower castes are being unfairly levied against. Whether that is, in fact, the case remains to be seen. And what of myself? It is an incontrovertible fact that I am a man of the People. I have not been corrupted. What I have gained, I have done so through hard and honest work. Of course, it may appear otherwise. I am a mere Poet, but I own two domiciles in the city of Ar. With respect to Samsara, tax is not an issue. As an Artisan house, it enjoys a substantial patronage. The Boarding House in the Anbar is subject to the property tax increase, of course. And if I am to absorb the tax of the service it provides, rather than pushing it onto my customers, I pay again. All that aside, I am an elected official of Ar. I am of a low and traditionally poor caste, but I own two domiciles within the city. I have other investments as well, having learned that the diversification is the key to the continued growth of wealth. I realize, all too well, what I am in fact and what I am in appearance.

I will work to find out, firstly, if the tax is applied universally across all castes and classes. Whether or not that is the case, I will then work to have the increase removed from those of the castes beneath the High Five. I have a plan.