I just purchased this game the other day and after playing a few dozen games in a row (yes, I am addicted already) I thought of a rule variant for the Tax Collector. As reported by others, his ability can seem somewhat wasted in many cases because upon being revealed, players are more likely to spend their hard earned gold before paying the tax.
Wouldn't it be a more strategic character role if the tax collector collected the tax prior to a player building a district in his city? He would then become quite a powerful choice because his ability would work twofold in the sense that not only could he collect money from other players but he could also serve to inhibit other players from building if they were low on cash or had just enough to build a district.
From a logical angle this rule would make sense as one cannot build or buy property without paying taxes in a real world setting. Likewise, shouldn't this be the case in a fantasy world as well?
Granted, the exception to the rule would be that the Assassin/Witch would be immune from this slight rule variant as the Tax Collector wouldn't reveal his role prior to his turn and thus would not be able to collect from them until after the fact.
Just a thought. What are yours?