Income
The main source of income over time in Imperator are Taxes and Commerce.
Tax Income
Tax income of a city is primarily based on how many slaves you have in that city. Then of course there are several modifiers that affect it, like access to trade-goods, stability, ministers, and some factions when in power may increase your tax income.
Commerce
This is only present if you either import or export trade-goods from a province. Each tradelink provides some income, and then the amount of citizens you have increase it, while marketplaces and other factors can increase it as well.
Wages
Every office or job in your country has a defined wage. A wage is always a certain percentage of your income, how high dependent on the office it is for. Character Corruption further modifies the wage of office holders.
Economic Policies
There are also various economic policies that affects your income and expenses on a country level.
Economic Policies for Income
Taxes
Modifies income from taxes.
| Policy | Bonus | Drawback |
|---|---|---|
| Lax Taxation | 1 National Unrest | -25% National Tax Modifier |
| Default Taxation | No Modifiers | No Modifiers |
| Harsh Taxation | +25 National Slave Output | -20% Research |
Commerce
Modifies income from Commerce.
| Policy | Bonus | Drawback |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction Taxation | +30% Commerce Income Modifier | +4 Slaves Needed for Surplus Trade Good Production |
| Trading Permits | No Modifiers | No Modifiers |
| Free Trade | -20% Commerce Income | +1 Trade Route Per Province |
Tributes
Modifies how much you expect your subject states to pay to you.
| Policy | Bonus | Drawback |
|---|---|---|
| Lax Tribute | Subject Opinion +50 | -33% Tribute Income from Subjects |
| Default | No Modifiers | No Modifiers |
| Extortive Tributes | +25% Tribute Income from Subjects | Subject Opinion -100 |
Army Maintenance
The Monthly cost for all troops in your country.
| Policy | Bonus | Drawback |
|---|---|---|
| Decreased Pay | -50% Army Maintenance Cost | -50% Morale |
| Normal Pay | No Modifiers | No Modifiers |
| Increased Pay | +10% Morale | +50% Army Maintenance Cost |
Fleet Maintenance
The Monthly cost for all the ships of your country.
| Policy | Bonus | Drawback |
|---|---|---|
| Decreased Pay | -50% Naval Maintenance | -50% Naval Morale |
| Normal Pay | No Modifiers | No Modifiers |
| Increased Pay | +10% Naval Morale | +50% Naval Maintenance |
Fort Maintenance
The cost to maintain all forts of your country.
| Policy | Bonus | Drawback |
|---|---|---|
| Ignored Garrisons | -50% Fort Maintenance | -95% Garrison Size, -90% Fort Defence |
| Paid Garrisons | No Modifiers | No Modifiers |
| Extortive Tributes | +25% Garrison Size and Fort Defence | +50% Fort Maintenance |
Wages
How much the wage of offices and jobs is increased or decreased.
| Policy | Bonus | Drawback |
|---|---|---|
| Decreased Pay | -25% Monthly Wages for all Characters | -0.5 Monthly Loyalty |
| Normal Pay | No Modifiers | No Modifiers |
| Increased Pay | +0.1 Monthly Loyalty | +50% Monthly Wages for all Characters |
Deficit
Should your country at any time find itself running a deficit this will result in a number of bad things. These can be seen at the bottom of the screen under the balance itself. Some of these events may well help you turn your economy around, but none of them come without a high price to be paid in some form.