An important phase of taxation relates to shifting and incidence. We have just noticed that the purchaser of a cigar gives little or no attention, if indeed he be aware of it, to the fact that a portion of the purchase price is a tax which the manufacturer has paid to the national government and then shifted to the retailer, who in turn shifts it to the purchaser. The shifting of the tax on tobacco is not unique. Practically every tax can be passed on from one buyer to the next until eventually it is paid by the consumer. Duties on imports (tariff duties) are often shifted a great many times, the number depending on the number of transfers of ownership. The importer of English broadcloth pays a certain tax to the government, which he merely adds to the price of his goods. This same tax comprises a portion of the price which the garments made from it bear, and it is finally paid, not by the retail clothier, but by his customers. House taxes too emerge in the form of higher rents, while taxes on business of all sorts are largely absorbed in higher prices. It is generally held, however, that land taxes cannot be shifted; that is, the owner of a piece of land must bear the tax assessed against it. Most people doubt the accuracy of this statement. Yet it becomes obvious when we remember that the return from land is economic rent, which depends entirely on its relative superiority in the matters of production and location; and that, if the tenant is paying full economic rent, he cannot afford to pay more; also that the tenant cannot shift the tax by advancing the price of his products, for this price is fixed by the marginal producer.