Responsa for Bava Batra 198:8
<big><strong>מתני׳</strong></big> מי שהיתה דרך הרבים עוברת לתוך שדהו נטלה ונתן להם מן הצד מה שנתן נתן ושלו לא הגיעו
[into the canal].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which belongs to one party while the field, through which it runs, belongs to another. ');"><sup>14</sup></span> Rab Judah further stated in the name of Samuel: A water canal<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which belongs to one party while the field, through which it runs, belongs to another. ');"><sup>14</sup></span>
Teshuvot Maharam
Q. A claims that his assets, equal to forty marks, for which the community demands a tax, are not taxable.
A. The decisions on questions of taxation are dependent more on custom than on talmudic law. The following rule is generally accepted by the communities: In any tax dispute between an individual and the community, the latter first collects the tax and then goes to court. Therefore, even before the tax is collected, the community is considered to be in possession of the tax-money, and the burden of proof falls upon the individual. This is not only an accepted custom, but also good talmudic law, and is operative even in a new community where there are no established customs. But if the community in question has a different custom, that custom prevails, though it be at variance with talmudic law.
This Responsum is addressed to R. Eliakim ha-Kohen.
SOURCES: Pr. 106; Mord. B. B. 522; cf. also Cr. 49; Pr. 708, 915; L. 371; Am II, 130. Agudah B.M. 108; Moses Minz, Responsa 72; Terumat Hadeshen 341.
A. The decisions on questions of taxation are dependent more on custom than on talmudic law. The following rule is generally accepted by the communities: In any tax dispute between an individual and the community, the latter first collects the tax and then goes to court. Therefore, even before the tax is collected, the community is considered to be in possession of the tax-money, and the burden of proof falls upon the individual. This is not only an accepted custom, but also good talmudic law, and is operative even in a new community where there are no established customs. But if the community in question has a different custom, that custom prevails, though it be at variance with talmudic law.
This Responsum is addressed to R. Eliakim ha-Kohen.
SOURCES: Pr. 106; Mord. B. B. 522; cf. also Cr. 49; Pr. 708, 915; L. 371; Am II, 130. Agudah B.M. 108; Moses Minz, Responsa 72; Terumat Hadeshen 341.
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