Revolutionary tax
Encyclopedia
Revolutionary tax is a major form of funding for violent non-state actors such as guerrilla
and terrorist
organizations. Those outside the organization may consider it to be a euphemism for "protection money".
Revolutionary taxes are typically extorted from businesses, and they also "play a secondary role as one other means of intimidating the target population".
and Corsican FLNC
have extorted revolutionary taxes as well as the following organizations.
depends on revolutionary taxes. Mainly small-to-medium businesses are extorted, 35 000 to 400 000 euros each, and this constitutes most of the budget of ETA, which is 10 million euros (2001).
most local and foreign companies pay revolutionary taxes to the Maoist New People's Army
. According to the army, the tax is a major obstacle for the country's development.
Movimiento Nacionalista Tacuara (MNT) demanded a "revolutionary tax" from many Jewish shops in Buenos Aires
.
, the Bolshevik
government decreed a revolutionary tax on November 2, 1918. Although the Bolshevik government already controlled the country, its opponents were still internationally recognized as the lawful rulers.
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
and terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
organizations. Those outside the organization may consider it to be a euphemism for "protection money".
Revolutionary taxes are typically extorted from businesses, and they also "play a secondary role as one other means of intimidating the target population".
Examples
The Irish Provisional IRAProvisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
and Corsican FLNC
National Liberation Front of Corsica
The National Liberation Front of Corsica is a militant group that advocates an independent state on the island of Corsica, separate from France. They also want all currently imprisoned members of the FLNC in France to be put into Corsican prisons. The organisation's presence is primarily in...
have extorted revolutionary taxes as well as the following organizations.
ETA
The Basque nationalist terrorist organization ETAETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
depends on revolutionary taxes. Mainly small-to-medium businesses are extorted, 35 000 to 400 000 euros each, and this constitutes most of the budget of ETA, which is 10 million euros (2001).
The Philippines
In the PhilippinesPhilippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
most local and foreign companies pay revolutionary taxes to the Maoist New People's Army
New People's Army
The New People's Army is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. It was formed on March 29, 1969. The Maoist NPA conducts its armed guerrilla struggle based on the strategical line of 'protracted people's war'.The NPA exacts so called "revolutionary taxes" from business owners...
. According to the army, the tax is a major obstacle for the country's development.
Colombia
The revolutionary taxes of Colombian guerrilla movements have become more common in the 1980s and 1990s.Argentina
The national socialist ArgentineArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
Movimiento Nacionalista Tacuara (MNT) demanded a "revolutionary tax" from many Jewish shops in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
.
Soviet Russia
In the Soviet RussiaRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
, the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
government decreed a revolutionary tax on November 2, 1918. Although the Bolshevik government already controlled the country, its opponents were still internationally recognized as the lawful rulers.