Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
Exact - Demand, or take, no more.
Than that which is appointed - That is, by the government. John does not condemn the office, or say that the employment should be forsaken. Though it was hated by the people - though often abused and therefore unpopular - yet "the office itself" was not dishonorable. If there is a government, it must be supported; and of course there must be people whose duty it is to collect taxes, as the means of the proper support of the government; and as such a support of the government is necessary, so the people should pay cheerfully the just apportionment of their rulers, and regard favorably those who are authorized to collect it. See Romans 13:1-6.
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