Beiträge zur Rechtsgeschichte Österreichs 13. Jahrgang Heft 2/2023, pp. 254-262, 2023/11/21
Alkohol in der Rechtsgeschichte
In the late Middle Ages, the sovereigns taxed beer through a general consumption tax, which was repeatedly approved by the estates and eventually leased to them. In the later 17th century, the Habsburgs introduced a tax on production, which, after experiments in the context of Enlightenment absolutism, was again absorbed into the system of consumption taxes, albeit unified. The invention of the saccharometer finally made it possible to tax beer according to wort content, which eventually happened.
Keywords: alcohol – beer – beer production – consumption taxes – Habsburg Monarchy – saccharometer – taxes