Urine Tax

The Urine Tax was a Roman Tax called ‘Vectigal Urinae’, imposed in 74 CE by the Emperor Vespasian (69-79 CE) on the collection of Urine.
When deflecting criticism for introducing this tax, Vespasian made the remark Pecunia non olet meaning ‘Money doesn’t smell’.

Use for Urine
- Urine is rich in Ammonia which was then used as a cleaning agent in Laundries.
- It was also as a hair remover from skins in the process of Tanning.
Urine collection
- Urine was collected outside shops and at crossroads and street corners.
- Rome had possibly as many as 144 public latrines at crossroads and street corners consisting of amphorae or barrels cut in half.
- These buckets were called ‘Dolia Certa’.
- The Urine was taken by the Official Collectors of Urine, who were given Public Contracts, and would be fined if they were late.
- They emptied the buckets into larger cesspools.
The Urine Buyers
- The urine collected was then sold to Fullers for cleaning wool and clothes. Urine contains ammonia which acts as a cleaning agent.
- Urine was also bought by Tanners for use in the Tanning process. The skins would be soaked in vats of urine to remove the hair.
Tax Collection
- The buyers, the Fullers and the Tanners, had to pay tax on the Urine when they bought it.

Public Toilets in Italy are still called ‘Vespasiano’ and in France ‘Vespasienne’, from the time that Vespasian issued this Urine Tax.