Insomesmallstatesdutiessimilartothosepassagedutiesareimposedupongoodscarriedacrosstheterritory，eitherbylandorbywater，fromoneforeigncountrytoanother。Theseareinsomecountriescalledtransit—duties。SomeofthelittleItalianstateswhicharesituateduponthePoandtheriverswhichrunintoitderivesomerevenuefromdutiesofthiskindwhicharepaidaltogetherbyforeigners，andwhich，perhaps，aretheonlydutiesthatonestatecanimposeuponthesubjectsofanotherwithoutobstructinginanyrespecttheindustryorcommerceofitsown。Themostimportanttransit—dutyintheworldisthatleviedbytheKingofDenmarkuponallmerchantshipswhichpassthroughtheSound。
Suchtaxesuponluxuriesasthegreaterpartofthedutiesofcustomsandexcise，thoughtheyallfallindifferentlyuponeverydifferentspeciesofrevenue，andarepaidfinally，orwithoutanyretribution，bywhoeverconsumesthecommoditiesuponwhichtheyareimposed，yettheydonotalwaysfallequallyorproportionablyupontherevenueofeveryindividual。Aseveryman’shumourregulatesthedegreeofhisconsumption，everymancontributesratheraccordingtohishumourthaninproportiontohisrevenue;theprofusecontributemore，theparsimoniousless，thantheirproperproportion。Duringtheminorityofamanofgreatfortunehecontributescommonlyverylittle，byhisconsumption，towardsthesupportofthatstatefromwhoseprotectionhederivesagreatrevenue。Thosewholiveinanothercountrycontributenothing，bytheirconsumption，towardsthesupportofthegovernmentofthatcountryinwhichissituatedthesourceoftheirrevenue。Ifinthislattercountrythereshouldbenoland—tax，noranyconsiderabledutyuponthetransferenceeitherofmovableorofimmovableproperty，asisthecaseinIreland，suchabsenteesmayderiveagreatrevenuefromtheprotectionofagovernmenttothesupportofwhichtheydonotcontributeasingleshilling。Thisinequalityislikelytobegreatestinacountryofwhichthegovernmentisinsomerespectssubordinateanddependentuponthatofsomeother。Thepeoplewhopossessthemostextensivepropertyinthedependentwillinthiscasegenerallychoosetoliveinthegoverningcountry。Irelandispreciselyinthissituation，andwecannot，therefore，wonderthattheproposalofataxuponabsenteesshouldbesoverypopularinthatcountry。Itmight，perhaps，bealittledifficulttoascertaineitherwhatsortorwhatdegreeofabsencewouldsubjectamantobetaxedasanabsentee，oratwhatprecisetimethetaxshouldeitherbeginorend。Ifyouexcept，however，thisverypeculiarsituation，anyinequalityinthecontributionofindividualswhichcanarisefromsuchtaxesismuchmorethancompensatedbytheverycircumstancewhichoccasionsthatinequality—thecircumstancethateveryman’scontributionisaltogethervoluntary，itbeingaltogetherinhispowereithertoconsumeornottoconsumethecommoditytaxed。
Wheresuchtaxes，therefore，areproperlyassessed，anduponpropercommodities，theyarepaidwithlessgrumblingthananyother。Whentheyareadvancedbythemerchantormanufacturer，theconsumer，whofinallypaysthem，sooncomestoconfoundthemwiththepriceofthecommodities，andalmostforgetsthathepaysanytax。
Suchtaxesareormaybeperfectlycertain，ormaybeassessedsoastoleavenodoubtconcerningeitherwhatoughttobepaid，orwhenitoughttobepaid;concerningeitherthequantityorthetimeofpayment。Whateveruncertaintytheremaysometimesbe，eitherinthedutiesofcustomsinGreatBritain，orinotherdutiesofthesamekindinothercountries，itcannotarisefromthenatureofthoseduties，butfromtheinaccurateorunskilfulmannerinwhichthelawthatimposesthemisexpressed。
Taxesuponluxuriesgenerallyare，andalwaysmaybe，paidpiecemeal，orinproportionasthecontributorshaveoccasiontopurchasethegoodsuponwhichtheyareimposed。Inthetimeandmodeofpaymenttheyare，ormaybe，ofalltaxesthemostconvenient。Uponthewhole，suchtaxes，are，perhaps，asagreeabletothethreefirstofthefourgeneralmaximsconcerningtaxationasanyother。Theyoffendineveryrespectagainstthefourth。