Octroi

Octroi (Lat. auctoritas, 'authority'), a term which originally meant any ordinance authorised by the sovereign, and thence came to be restrictively applied to a toll or tax in kind levied from a very early period in France and other countries of northern Europe on articles of food which passed the barrier or entrance of a town. The octroi was abolished in France at the Revolution, but in 1798 it was re-established. The octroi officers are entitled to search all carriages and individuals entering the gates of a town. Similar taxes are raised in Italy and elsewhere.