Do the cities of Westeros pay their taxes to the Iron Throne directly and skip their lords paramount? Asking because I see that the Hand of the King controls tariffs for King's Landing, Oldtown and Lannisport. So would the Hightowers not pay the Tyrells?
It's a bit complicated, because we're talking about different sets of taxes. So on the one hand there are port taxes - tariffs, luxury taxes, customs, tolls, harbor fees, etc. - that are royal taxes, set by the King and the Small Council, and collected by the customs officers appointed by the Iron Throne. (This changes during the War of Five Kings, where the canny Wyman Manderly replaces them and the royal mint officials with men loyal to the North and House Manderly.)
On the other hand, there are the normal feudal taxes - land taxes, property taxes, inheritance taxes, income taxes, etc. - that would normally be paid to the local feudal lord, and then a portion would be sent to the Lord Paramount, and then the Lord Paramount would send a portion to the King.
