Taxation - II

The poll tax was imposed on every male over the age of twenty.  Every male was required to pay the same amount, a half-shekel (Ex 30:13) and was used "for the service of the tabernacle of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before th LORD, to make atonement for yourselves."  But this atonement wasn't part of the sacrificial system of Leviticus.

"The fact that atonement is cited as one of the aspects of this tax misleads many.  The meaning of atonement here is a covering or protection; by menas of this tax, the people of Israel placed themselves under God as tehir King, paying triubte to Him, and gained in return God's protecting care." - Rushdoony, IBL, pp281-2.

Becuase it was equal amount for all (30:15), it could not be too large or it would be oppressive upon the poor, and by being an equal amount, it would not be oppressive upon the rich.  All equally needed the protection of the LORD as King, for no one was to trust in their riches for such protection.

Such a flat-tax would probably immediately be welcomed by half of our population.  Women would not be taxed!