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Economy (Guide) - Crusader Kings II Wiki

Economy (Guide)
From Crusader Kings II Wiki
Taxation is how you get your money in Crusader Kings II, and is thus an important feature to understand. I'll go into how taxation is calculated, and how
to gain the greatest economical benefits. As always, there's a summary at the end.

Contents
1 The Basics
2 Holding income
3 Tax Law
3.1 Nobles
3.2 Burghers
3.3 Clergy
4 Opinion
5 Indirect Taxation
6 Calculation
7 Maximization
8 Impact on Other Areas
9 Summary

The Basics
How much tax is paid depends on three factors:
Holding income
Tax law
Opinion towards tax recipient
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These three factors are multiplied together to decide the tax paid.

Holding income
Holding income is quite simple. It is calculated by adding the income of all buildings in an income to the base income of that holding. The base income is 3
for a castle, 8 for a temple, and 12 for a city.
This income is then multiplied by any additional factors, primarily the Farming/Trade Practices/Church Taxes technologies and the Steward's Collect
Taxes missions. In addition there are some events that can affect the income of a holding, but they're rather self-explanatory.

Tax Law
Each type of holding has its own type of tax law. However it is worth noting that the tax a vassal pays is not in fact based on the type of holding, but the
type of noble they are. For example if someone owns a city and a castle, and is a count he'll be paying the tax level decided by Feudal Taxation, not City
Taxation. The multiplier can vary from 0 to 1, but for your vassals the max is 0.55. Your demesne however always has a multiplier of 1, so unless you're
paying tax to anyone above you you get to keep it all. The full list is below:

Nobles
No Feudal Tax - 0
Small Feudal Tax - 0.1
Large Feudal Tax - 0.2
Harsh Feudal Tax - 0.3

Burghers
Minimal City Taxes - 0.15
Normal City Taxes - 0.25
Large City Tax - 0.35
Harsh City Tax - 0.45

Clergy
No Church Tax - 0
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Minimal Church Tax - 0.35

Medium Church Tax - 0.45
Large Church Tax - 0.55

Opinion
If a tax payer's opinion towards the tax recipient is under 0, tax paid will be reduced by as many percent. Thus at 0 or above opinion they'll pay full tax,
at -50 they'll pay half tax, and at -100 they'll pay no tax. Your opinion towards yourself is always counted as a multiplier of 1.

Indirect Taxation
You will also get a portion of any tax paid to your vassals, the same portion (in percent) as you get from their demesne income. This is generally a trivial
amount unless they have a lot of vassals, though.

Calculation
Thus the full formula for tax becomes this:
(TheirTaxIncome + (BaseIncome + Buildings)) * HoldingIncomeFactors * TaxLaw * OpinionModifier
For your own holdings it is simply this as both TaxLaw and OpinionModifier are equal to one. (BaseIncome + Buildings) * HoldingIncomeFactors

Maximization
Now that we know how tax works and what effects it, we can now work out how to maximize it. First we've got simple construction, which will directly
increase the income of a holding, which will trickle down as tax. As I detailed in this post, constructing buildings in your vassals' holdings gives less of a
return on your investment than building in your own demesne. As such when seeking to maximize income you should build as many income buildings in
your demesne as possible.
Second, you can up the tax law to make your vassals pay more. However if their opinion is already low enough this will not pay off, with a full list here:
10% -> 20% gives more as long as opinion is originally above -80 (0.1 * 0.2 = 0.2 * 0.1)
15% -> 25% gives more as long as opinion is originally above -75 (0.15 * 0.25 = 0.25 * 0.15)
20% -> 30% gives more as long as opinion is originally above -70 (0.2 * 0.3 = 0.3 * 0.2)
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25% -> 35% gives more as long as opinion is originally above -65 (0.25 * 0.35 = 0.35 * 0.25)
30% -> 40% gives more as long as opinion is originally above -60 (0.3 * 0.4 = 0.4 * 0.3)
35% -> 45% gives more as long as opinion is originally above -55 (0.35 * 0.45 = 0.45 * 0.35)
45% -> 55% gives more as long as opinion is originally above -45 (0.45 * 0.55 = 0.55 * 0.45)
As such, higher tax will almost always equal more income, but this does not take into account the hit to levies, nor the chance of rebellion.
Third, you can do what you can to keep all vassals above 0 opinion. Granting them titles, running tournaments, granting their wishes, making them
councilors, etc.
Finally, we've got one special case: Clergy. Clergy will only ever pay you tax if they prefer you over the pope, and as their opinion towards the pope is
generally in the 40 to 60 area getting them to like you more than the pope can be pretty hard. One extremely effective workaround is appointing an antipope. You will get all church taxes paid to the antipope, so every bishop who likes either you or the antipope more than they like the real pope will pay
you church taxes. In addition, every bishop in the realm will pay tax to you if they like the antipope more than they like the real pope and their liege. If
you rule a large realm church taxes could therefore end up as your largest source of income.
For example in my Scotland campaign where I controlled all of the British Isles except a small area in central England, I got about 400 gold a year in
church taxes, while the rest of my income amounted to about 100-150 gold.

Impact on Other Areas

While maximizing income is pretty simple, it can have a drastic effect on other areas of your realm. Increasing taxes will make your nobles like you less,
and thus make them more likely to rebel and give you less levies. Too high taxes can thus make your realm considerably weaker, and massively increase
internal turmoil. You can thus easily end up spending more time and money on placating your vassals and putting down rebellions than you earn in
increased income.
So while you might end up earning more money, if you're not careful you'll never actually get to use that extra money for anything useful, instead using it
up in unit upkeep and bribes.

Summary
Through several different methods you can increase your income, but if you're not careful you won't get any use out of it.
Construct buildings. More info in the guide on construction
Find a suitable tax level. Balance it between good opinion and high taxes.
If you get the opportunity, appoint an antipope.
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Research relevant technology. More info in the guide on technology

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