Week in Insights: At Least We Don’t Have to Pay Taxes With Beer

Curated by Daniel Xu

The IRS has announced that the new tax filing season officially kicks off on Jan. 29. As we brace ourselves for the long hours, it’s intriguing to look back at how taxes have evolved. Perhaps in doing so, we can cultivate a sense of gratitude for the comparative simplicity of filing taxes in 2024 as opposed to, say, 3100 B.C.E.

In Ancient Egypt, it became necessary to raise a tax for defense and infrastructure maintenance as the unified kingdom flourished along the Nile. The government also sought to address overconsumption of alcoholic beverages and figured a ...