text: Fouquet's downfall gave Colbert a free hand to reduce the national debt through more 
  efficient taxation. The principal taxes included the*aides*and*douanes*(both customs 
  duties), the*gabelle*(salt tax), and the*taille*(land tax). The*taille*was reduced at first, and 
  certain tax-collection contracts were auctioned instead of being sold privately to a 
  favoured few. Financial officials were required to keep regular accounts, revising 
  inventories and removing unauthorized exemptions: up to 1661 only 10 per cent of income 
  from the royal domain reached the king. Reform had to overcome vested interests: the 
  *taille*was collected by officers of the Crown who had purchased their post at a high price, 
  and punishment of abuses necessarily lowered the value of the purchase. Nevertheless, 
  Colbert achieved excellent results, with the deficit of 1661 turning into a surplus by 1666, 
  with interest on the debt decreasing from 52 million to 24 million livres. The*taille*was 
  reduced to 42 million in 1661 and 35 million in 1665, while revenue from indirect taxation 
  progressed from 26 million to 55 million. The revenues of the royal domain were raised from 80,000 livres in 1661 to 5.5 million 
  in 1671. In 1661, the receipts were equivalent to 26 million British pounds, of which 10 million reached the treasury. The 
  expenditure was around 18 million pounds, leaving a deficit of 8 million. In 1667, the net receipts had risen to 20 million pounds 
  sterling, while expenditure had fallen to 11 million, leaving a surplus of 9 million pounds. 
  
  Members of the*Académie des*
  *sciences*with Louis in 1667; in the 
  background appears the new Paris 
  Observatory. 