Privilege and Taxation: Who Paid?

The Old Regime's tax system was not simply unfair; it was complex, uneven and riddled with exemptions. The main direct tax, the taille, fell largely on commoners, because nobles and clergy were generally exempt, and many towns and provinces had negotiated their own reductions. Peasants also owed the tithe to the Church, dues and services to local lords, and indirect taxes such as the hated salt tax, the gabelle, whose rate varied enormously between regions.

The clergy paid no regular direct taxes, offering instead a periodic 'free gift' to the crown. Because the burden fell hardest on those least able to pay, the system both angered the poor and failed to raise enough money for the state. Historians stress that privilege was not only noble: towns, guilds and provinces also held privileges, which made reform politically very difficult.