In the Maxims of Adam Smith, extracted in Chapter 4, the requirement of certainty (Maxim II) was considered by Smith to be the most important, even more important than equity. In eighteenth-century Britain, Smith was concerned about preventing arbitrariness and limiting the coercive power of the sovereign. Smith was also much concerned about the convenience of taxation. He strongly criticised the taxes of his time for exposing taxpayers to ‘much unnecessary trouble, vexation and oppression’ and being ‘so much more burdensome to the people than they are beneficial to the sovereign’. He said some taxes were payable at an ‘inconvenient’ time, while applauding other taxes levied when the taxpayer would have the funds to pay.1 Finally, Smith expressed concern about abuse of power by tax inspectors, bemoaning the ‘frequent visits and the odious examination of the tax-gatherers’, with their expensive ‘perquisites’ and the temptation through their office to ‘insolence’ and corruption.