Kosher tax

The Kosher tax was one of several indirect taxes imposed by the Russian Imperial government—and sometimes by the Habsburg empire, Germany and Moldavia—on Jews. Rosenthal, Herman; Lipman, J.G.br>"Basket-Tax"
'' Jewish Encyclopedia''.Leonid Vasilʹevich Belovinskiĭ. ''Энциклопедический словарь российской жизни и истории: XVIII-начало XX в'', Olma Media Group, 2003,
p. 357.
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Russia

In Russia, the tax, known as the ''korobka'', was a tax paid only by Jews for each animal slaughtered in accordance with the kashrut rules and for each pound of this meat sold. It was part of the Russian Jewish "basket tax" or "box tax". Though it was used to refer to a tax on meat or slaughtering, the word ''korobka'' (Russian: коробка) actually means "box" in Russian. The tax came to be called that because Jews paying had to deposit a coin in a box at the kosher slaughterer. Diner, Hasia R. ''Hungering for America: Italian, Irish, and Jewish Foodways in the Age of Migration'', Harvard University Press, 2001,
p. 164.
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According to Herman Rosenthal and Jacob Goodale Lipman, the tax was "the most burdensome and annoying of the special taxes imposed upon the Jews of Russia by the government". The burden of taxes, and the ''korobka'' in particular, was one of the factors which drove many Jews to abandon the towns and settle in villages or on the estates of noblemen.

Galicia

With the annexation to Austria in 1772, special taxes were imposed on Galician Jews (" Eastern Jews") for marriage permits, kosher meat, synagogues, and similar items.

Between 1777 to 1784, the Jews of Horodenka, a region on the south-east corner of Galicia, paid a number of special taxes, including the "Protection and Tolerance Tax", and "Property and Occupation tax". In 1784, the Property and Occupation Tax was cancelled and replaced with the Kosher Meat Tax.

Moldavia

In 1741, Moldavian prince Grigore Ghica confirmed the obligation of each Jew to pay the ''crupca'', an indirect tax on kosher meat similar to the Russian ''korobka''.

Germany

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Germany appears to have had a "kosher meat tax" imposed by municipalities and used to support the local Jewish community.

See also

*Taxation of the Jews in Europe for other types of taxes imposed on the Jews

References

{{reflist, 40em

Russian Jews
Kashrut
Taxation in Russia
Jewish Galician (Eastern Europe) history
History of Moldavia (1711–1822)
Disabilities (Jewish) in Europe
History of taxation
Religious discrimination