W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…

The Rosetta Stone, discovered by Napoleon, was possibly the most helpful Egyptian archaeological find to date. The Stone had the same text in three different languages: hieroglyphics, demotic (known as Egyptian script) and Greek. Using the Greek translation, we figured out how to decipher the demotic and then the hieroglyphs. But the question is sustained: Egyptians had a form of paper, named papyrus, so why was the writing carved into stone? Also, why three languages? And why Greek?

The Stone has been around since 3000 B.C. The Rosetta Stone was carved around 200 B.C. while Ptolemy V was in power (an emperor of Greek descent). So what happened to the Pharaohs? At this point in history, Egypt was taken over in 700 B.C. by the Assyrians, after that the Persians, and eventually the Greeks in 330 B.C. After an existence of 2000+ years, Egypt was in decline.

The Ptolemy dynasty were by and large decent rulers, but in 200BC, when the Rosetta Stone was created, Egypt had recently concluded a 10-year long civil war. The civil war broke out because of excessive and oppressive taxes strengthened by tough Greek tax collectors. As the war ended there was still much unrest. Ptolemy V put into a effect a Proclamation of Peace which gave forgiveness for any rebel and tax debtors, lowered taxation practices, ceased forced draft into the navy, and reinstated tax exemption to the priests, temples, and their crops and lands, as it had been in the reign of the great pharaohs. If you are feeling the pressure with today’s taxes, call a Raleigh NC CPA for all your tax-related needs!

This turned out to be a great edge and monetary ease for the priests and temples and they wanted to be certain first all people knew it and, second, did not desire it to be thrown away again at some time in the future.

As a result, “Rosetta Stones” were etched and put in front of each temple throughout Egypt. The Rosetta stones acted as warnings to all that tax exemption had been granted to the priests and this temple and acted as a “Do Not Enter” proclamation to curtail the lawlessness of the king’s tax collectors. Go here if you want help with modern-day Tax Preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll in Raleigh NC.

This still leaves the question: why carved into stone? The answer is because the priests desired to make sure it would not disappear or able to be easily disposed. Another question was why write it in three languages? The Stone was written in 3 languages because everyone could see and heed the message the priesthood wanted to spread to all people of Egypt. It was written in Greek to be especially clear to the king’s tax collectors that they couldn’t even come in the temple gates.

As a result of the most important Egyptian archaeological discovery ever, the stone translated the mysterious language of the Egyptians, made us capable of discovering the secrets of hieroglyphic writing and subsequently the secret to unlocking the history and the understanding of the Egyptian way of life for 3000 years was, in truth, a tax document.

Keep an eye out for W. Marc Gilfillan’s next chapter in his History of Taxes series: Taxes and The Colussus of Rhodes.

http://www.marccpa.com/

There are many things that you may not think your company needs when it does. I am not talking about the boring office furniture or the very dull ergonomic chair, but of some of the things you could use to brighten up those dull serviced offices to make the employees a bit happier.

Coffee Machine

Although this sounds like a very simple request, many places do not have one of these and employees are forced to go out for coffee or make it all themselves. If you think about it, not only with the employees be happier with better quality tea and coffee but it will work out for you too as they will be spending less time making the drinks!

Pool Table

They may be expensive, they may not be something you as the employer thinks is necessary but things like this actually increase the level of happiness of the employees. The great thing abouthaving these is that you can hold tournaments from time to time within the office.

Television

This again is something that is likely to improve the moods of the people working for you. This is great if you are a company that needs to be always up to date with the news as you can stick the news channel on during the day. All you have to do here is stick on the subtitles as they are always streamed onto the news.

Games Consoles

This is something that our office has two of including the Wii and the Xbox 360. It means that work can well and truly be forgtten about during the lunch hour which is exactly what you need to happen.

So although these may seem like big investments they will actually help you out by improving the morale rates of your workforce.

So many gadgets are made to be just used in the office. What are the ones you really should think about getting?

USB Gadgets

There are many USB gadgets out there and they work really well in an office full of computers. One of my personal favourites is the USB fridge as it can keep a normal sized can of drink cool by simply plugging it into a USB slot. If you are into your teas and coffees then look out for the USB cup warmer as that allows you to keep the drink warm as it is easy to forget a cup of tea.

Sound Hats

So your not allowed music at work? Put one of these hats on and your boss will just think you are cold in these winter monthes when you are listening to music. Of course you know you are listening to your favourite tunes.

Stress Balls

Okay so they aren’t really as important gadgets as the previous ones but they sure as hell come in handy if you turn up for work in a very bad mood. This can come in very handy if you get into trouble and want to take your anger out on something.

USB Hubs

These provide you with a few extra ports to plug in various USB items into. These things are cool because they are made for everyone in that you can get one in the form of a Ferrari or in the form of the tardis.

All of these things can make a difference to those boring serviced offices and if these gadgets aren’t enough for you then look into getting some more interesting office furniture. So buy office furniture that is a bit different to see a difference in the way people work, you never know it could make a difference