My pirate: Quest, will nail anybody he can. and he isn't taxing or pirating. You are paying him for the right to live, which he WILL take away from you. (Stupid uber-successful escape pods).
You pay him what you feel your life is worth. bwahaha! I'll usually settle for a couple mil. If I know you are a Corsair smuggler I demand like 5-10mil depending on my mood, if you have the name Mobius you have 10 seconds to initiate a trade with 10+mil credits for me before I destroy you.