Ready to learn about some more weird and wacky taxes? Last time on Strange and Unique Taxes we learned about the flatulence tax and Chinese smoking mandate. This week, we’ll be looking at the final two taxes in our 4 part series:
Swedish Tax Agency’s Naming Rights: While this may not be categorized as a tax code, it is certainly a very strange law. The authority of the Swedish Tax Agency requires that all children must have their names approved by the agency within three months of their time of birth. The law began in 1982 to stop parents from naming their kids with what the agency deemed as “noble” or “offensive” names. Of course, there are fines for non-compliance. One particularly interesting case came about in 1996, when a family was fined for failing to register their seven-year-old child’s name. In retaliation, the parents proposed the name “A,” which was ruled against. They then tried the name, “Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb1116,” which they said would be pronounced “Albin.” After this was also rejected, the parents just kept the name, “Albin.”
Russia’s Beard Tax: In the late 17th century, the Tsar of Russia, Peter the Great decided that all men with beards (besides priests) should be taxed unless they cut them off completely. He came to this decision after traveling to the West and seeing that all of the men there were clean-shaven. If you wanted to keep your beard in Russia during this time, you were given a token to wear which read, “The beard is a useless burden.”
We hope that you enjoyed reading about some of the strangest tax laws ever made, we certainly enjoyed finding them!
