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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §39.4.9.pr-39.4.9.8

Conditions for Tax Farming, Unlawful Exaction, and Exemptions

Passage 6208 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section details the conditions for tax farming (such as limits on overbidding, disqualification of debtors, and partner relations), penalties for illegal tax collection, and exemptions for military goods, the fiscus, and certain merchants.

[PAULUS libro quinto sententiarum. ] §39.4.9.prLocatio uectigalium, quae calor licitantis ultra modum solitae conductionis inflauit, ita demum admittenda est, si fideiussores idoneos et cautionem is qui licitatione uicerit offerre paratus sit.
[PAULUS, Opinions, Book V.] The leasing of taxes, which the excitement of the bidder has inflated beyond the measure of customary leasing, is only to be accepted if the one who has won the bidding is prepared to offer suitable sureties and security.
§39.4.9.1Ad conducendum uectigal inuitus nemo compellitur et ideo impleto tempore conductionis elocanda sunt.
No one is compelled against their will to lease taxes, and therefore, when the period of the lease has expired, they must be leased out again.
§39.4.9.2Reliquatores uectigalium ad iterandam conductionem, antequam superiori conductioni satisfaciant, admittendi non sunt.
Tax defaulters must not be admitted to repeat the leasing before they satisfy their prior lease.
§39.4.9.3Debitores fisci itemque rei publicae uectigalia conducere prohibentur, ne ex alia causa eorum debita onerentur: nisi forte tales fideiussores optulerint, qui debitis eorum satisfacere parati sint.
Debtors of the fiscus and also of the public commonwealth are prohibited from leasing taxes, lest their debts be burdened by another cause; unless perhaps they should offer such sureties as are prepared to satisfy their debts.
§39.4.9.4Soci uectigalium si separatim partes administrent, alter ab altero minus idoneo in se portionem transferri iure desiderat.
If partners in taxes manage their shares separately, one may by right request that the share be transferred to himself from the other who is less solvent.
§39.4.9.5Quod illicite publice priuatimque exactum est, cum altero tanto passis iniuriam exsoluitur.
What has been illegally exacted, whether publicly or privately, is paid back to those who suffered the injury with as much again.
per uim uero extortum cum poena tripli restituitur: amplius extra ordinem plectuntur: alterum enim utilitas priuatorum, alterum uigor publicae disciplinae postulat.
But what was extorted by force is restored with a threefold penalty; furthermore, they are punished extraordinarily; for the former is required by the interest of private persons, the latter by the vigor of public discipline.
§39.4.9.6Earum rerum uectigal, quarum numquam praestitum est, praestari non potest: quod si praestari consuetum in diligentia publicani omiserat, alius exercere non prohibetur.
A tax on things for which it has never been paid cannot be demanded; but if a tax which was customary to be paid had been omitted through the negligence of a tax collector, another is not prohibited from exercising it.
§39.4.9.7Res exercitui paratas praestationi uectigalium subici non placuit.
It has been decided that things prepared for the army are not subject to the payment of taxes.
§39.4.9.8Fiscus ab omnium uectigalium praestationibus immunis est. mercatores autem, qui de fundis fiscalibus mercari consuerunt, nullam immunitatem soluendi publici uectigalis usurpare possunt.
The fiscus is exempt from the payment of all taxes; merchants, however, who are accustomed to trade with goods from fiscal estates, can claim no immunity from paying public tax.

Notes

  1. §39.4.9.prcalor licitantis — 'calor' (heat, excitement) metaphorically represents the excessive inflation of bids in an auction. 'licitantis' is the genitive of the present participle, functioning as a subjective genitive of 'calor' (the excitement felt or caused by the bidder).
  2. §39.4.9.5cum altero tanto — A phrase using 'cum' and the ablative, meaning 'with as much again', which refers to paying double (the original amount plus an equivalent amount as a penalty) to those who suffered the injury.
  3. §39.4.9.6in diligentia — In context, this refers to the 'lack of diligence' or 'negligence' of the tax collector. While some manuscripts read 'indiligentia', the reading 'in diligentia' can be understood to mean 'in [the matter of] diligence' (i.e., failing in it), leading to the same interpretative result.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §39.4.9.pr-39.4.9.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:39.4.9.pr-39.4.9.8

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