Which labor tax did the Inca implement that required communities to contribute labor to public works?

• A. Mita
• B. Gold Tribute
• C. Quipu Tax
• D. Labor Drafts

Answer: (A)

Inca tax system centered on mobilizing people’s labor rather than collecting money. This labor obligation was known as the mita, a rotating draft where communities contributed workers to public works and state projects. Through the mita, the empire could build and maintain extensive infrastructure—roads, bridges, terraces, temples, and mine work—by drawing on labor from different ayllu groups for a set period each year. It ties local communities directly to imperial needs and kept the vast territory functioning without a monetary tax.

Gold tribute fits a monetary or metal-based obligation, not a labor one. The quipu was a recording and accounting system used to track goods and obligations, not itself a tax type. And while “labor drafts” describes the idea, the formal term used by the Inca for this labor tax is mita.