The tax optional rule allows a player to gain additional income through abusive taxation in their provinces. Doing this, however, would cause famine in those territories and may even cause a rebellion.
On game[]
When writing orders a player can select one or more of its provinces to collect taxes. You can only choose a territory containing a city, controlled by you and not affected by a rebellion. The same city may be taxed only once per phase.
The provinces chosen instantly provide an amount of money equal to their normal income (variable incomes not included) less a duchy.
At the end of each season, any province which has raised taxes will be affected by famine. In the case of Spring, this occurs after the normal famine resolved.
If taxes are applied on a province affected by famine, there is a possibility that a rebellion occurs. To test this possibility, we used the same table in the rebellions caused by murder, but apply a penalty equivalent to the duchies collected.