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# Taille

## Definition

A French land tax assessed on the supposed profits of farmers based on the stock they maintain on their farms, creating perverse incentives to minimize apparent wealth and discouraging both cultivation and improvement of land.

## Source Chapter

Book III, Chapter 2

## Context

Smith uses the taille as an example of how tax systems designed around feudal assumptions about land ownership and farming practices can become economically destructive, arguing it not only prevents capital accumulation on farms but also drives away external investment due to its degrading social effects.

## Economic Domain

Regulation

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