Alcabala de las Indias

The sales tax of Spanish America. An old Castilian levy extended to the Indies from 1574 in New Spain and 1592 in Peru at two per cent, its proceeds consigned to the maritime armadas. Codified in Recopilación libro VIII, título 13, it taxed merchants and encomenderos alike — but exempted, in the crown's own words, the Indians ("por ahora no la han de pagar"), staple grain sold in the markets and alhóndigas, and food sold retail for the poor.