Recently, a friend and I were discussing the logic of the Death Star. The issue of price eventually came up. I stated that since the Empire had so many citizens, they would get massive amounts of tax money and the Death Star would only take a small percentage of their earned money. He asked me to prove it, which brings me to my question here.

It can be broken down into three sub-questions

  1. How many people did the Empire tax?
  2. Was the tax particularly high?
  3. How was the tax money distributed and how much went to the military?
  • 2
    I'd say you're missing "3. What else was the tax money used/needed for?" ;) – Andres F. Oct 2 '15 at 0:39
  • @AndresF. Edited. – Rogue Jedi Oct 2 '15 at 0:49
  • 1
    Did you ever see that episode of the Simpsons in which they go to see the Star Wars parody: Cosmic Wars: The Gathering Shadow? This question reminds me of that episode. The decision is final. Tabled, this motion is. Or is it? – Daft Jan 13 '16 at 8:48

1. All wage-earning Imperial citizens.

Quoting from the Wikia (emphasis mine):

Under Republic law, all wage-earning beings were required to pay income tax. This tax was collected by the Republic Tax Collection Agency. When the Trade Federation complained about piracy in the outlying star systems, the Republic Senate passed a tariff on those formerly free trade zones. This action justifiably upset the Trade Federation Viceroy, prompting him to blockade and invade the small planet of Naboo. Right before the Clone Wars, a fifteen percent transit tax was levied on all tickets sold in an effort to raise emergency funds for the government. After the Galactic Republic changed to the Galactic Empire, tax laws were consolidated into the Imperial Revenue Codes and placed under control of the Imperial Taxation Bureau.

The Republic Tax Collection Agency was replaced under the New Order by the Imperial Taxation Bureau, which:

was the government body under Emperor Palpatine that was responsible for collecting taxes from Imperial citizens, as well as setting tax rates.

As for question 2, the only relevant quote I've found is the fifteen percent one highlighted above.

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