Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 984 Taxation and Finance ([-])

Shao Yuanyi grinned and got down from an old carriage.

The two carriages he just rode in were packed to death, and the air was filthy. What was even more frustrating was that the brass shock absorbing springs on the carriages were clearly no longer elastic, but the owner of the carriages insisted on not replacing them!No, it made the buttocks of the whole car swollen, which really made people angry.

"The county's finances are relatively well-off compared to the whole country, but the township roads don't know how to repair them properly." Shao Yuanyi looked at the muddy ground after the snow melted, and began to spray: "I don't know the taxes we pay every year. Where did you go, the township government doesn't even have the money to maintain the road, it's really unreasonable."

After venting for a while on the sandy road from Mucaoling Township to Xihu Town, the county seat, Shao Yuanyi wrapped his clothes and walked towards home resentfully.As for his luggage and the mule, they were taken by the two disciples and returned to the township government. The New Year is only a few days away, and Shao Yuanyi, who is eager to return home, plans to rush home to celebrate the New Year, and then go to the county after the New Year. The Li Health Bureau conducted a debriefing.

After walking on the muddy village road (dirt road) for about ten minutes, Shao Yuanyi walked through the verdant wheat field and entered his house.Returning home is naturally a pleasure. After making tea and lighting the cigarette, the three young children came over for a while, and finally Shao Yuanyi lay down on the reclining chair exhausted.

"Honey, the villager came here to collect taxes the day before yesterday." His wife Natasia said cautiously while helping Shao Yuanyi beat his slightly sore calf.

"Well, it's almost Chinese New Year, and the tax is only raised now. In the Chinese New Year, when the village chief goes to the town for a meeting, he might be in danger." Shao Yuanyi closed his eyes and pretended to fall asleep, and said faintly.

It has been 20 years since the founding of the country, and the reform of the tax system of the East Coast Republic of China can be said to have been progressing in the process of groping.After encountering difficulties in the collection of taxes that some people took for granted at the beginning, the Ministry of Finance has been studying how to improve the tax system and reduce collection costs in recent years, so that more taxes can be collected to fill the fiscal vacancies of governments at all levels.

Therefore, after continuous exploration, practice and improvement, the taxation system on the east bank has been changed several times, and finally formed the seven major taxes mainly consisting of movable property tax, real property tax, personal income tax, consumption tax, business tax, deed tax and customs duty.Among these types of taxes, the best ones are deed tax and customs duties. The main objects of deed tax are the transfer of land and house use rights, and customs duties are taxes on imported and exported goods.Among these two taxes, the tax rate of the deed tax is uniformly set at 3%, and the tariff varies, ranging from exemption to 25%, and even some commodities that are in serious competition with the east coast are levied at 50%-200%. Unequal punitive tariffs.

In addition to these two taxes, the collection of business tax, consumption tax, and personal income tax is more troublesome.Fortunately, the main component of the Chinese East Coast Republic's economy at this stage is the state-run economy, which reduces the workload of taxation and collection a lot, so the tax collectors of the Ministry of Finance can still collect some roughly after much trouble. , not too badly.Among these taxes, the business tax rate is 5%; personal income tax is divided according to income, with a monthly income of less than 10 yuan is levied at 5%, and that of more than 10 yuan is levied at 10%; as for consumption tax, different tax rates are set according to different commodities , but obviously, there are not many products included in the consumption tax collection scope by the tax department at this stage, and the scope of collection products may be expanded in the future, but for now, the consumption tax can only be regarded as a small part of the tax revenue on the east coast.

If the collection of business tax, consumption tax and personal income tax is more "troublesome", then movable property tax and real property tax, the two pillars of East Coast taxation, are simply "super troublesome".The taxation department on the east bank has a blind eye to the property status of every town, village, and family in the country, and they don’t know where to start—because if they need to find out the actual situation, it may take tens of thousands of people to hire A tax collector spends a lot of time going door to door, and the actual cost of tax collection is so high that it is better not to collect it.

In the end, the Ministry of Finance could only issue a document to each township and village through the Government Affairs Council, asking them to agree on an amount—of course, this amount will definitely require repeated bargaining between departments at all levels—and then the villages will be assigned according to the actual situation. Plan and levy, and finally hand it over to the township and county.In this case, a large amount of taxes will definitely be missed, but it is already the most cost-effective method. The advantage of collecting taxes in units of villages is that the local village head generally knows the general financial situation of each family in the village, and then apportions the tax payable. Time can also make a big difference.

In fact, this kind of fixed-amount tax collection is also more common in business tax and consumption tax.Due to the shortage of tax collectors, we can only negotiate a fixed figure with various companies. This is the lowest cost and most efficient way. Although a large amount of taxes will also be missed, this is the only way to go - taxation It can be said to be a worldwide problem in this era. The efficiency of taxation on the east coast is almost at the forefront of the world. What do you want?

The tax collectors that Natasia mentioned just now are movable property tax and real property tax. Shao Yuanyi's family is a big family, so naturally they have to pay much more than others when apportioning.Although Natasia was very reluctant to part with it, she finally knew how to measure it and could not be rejected by her neighbors in this matter, so she paid a tax of 30 yuan with a heartache on her face.

Shao Yuanyi didn't say anything after hearing this, and he accepted the apportionment quota, but he still couldn't help complaining about the township government's use of tax revenue: "I don't know where these taxes are used. The county at least We can collect more than 2 yuan in taxes. Even if our Mucaoling Township is not welcomed by the county, we still have 4 to [-] yuan in appropriations. Adding in the money allocated by the central government, the township has at least [-] to [-] yuan a year. Living money of more than [-] yuan can be used, but they can't even repair the dirt road to the county. Where the hell did the money go? Next time I go to the county, I have to talk to someone... "

话说东岸的征税一般是按东岸历来征收的，这体现在公历上，便要跨年了。比如东岸历1652年度的税收的计征日期便是公历1652年7月-1653年7月，而在公历1653年7月以后的小半年里，则是政务院依据收上来的税制定公历1654财年的政府预算。

Of course, the government budget cannot be supported by taxes alone.For example, in fiscal year 1654, the annual budget of the East Coast Republic is likely to reach a huge 480 million yuan, but only about 140 million yuan will be provided by taxation, about 290 million yuan will be provided by state-owned enterprise profits, and about 30 yuan will be provided by the navy in privateering income. , and the other 20 yuan was settled by issuing treasury bills.

It can be seen that domestic taxation can only make up a quarter of the fiscal budget, and most of the budget needs to be settled by the profits turned over by state-owned enterprises. This is the result of the extraordinary development of the East Coast Republic.If we follow the normal situation, we should only make a budget of more than 100 million yuan every year, and then everyone will slowly farm and develop. The final outcome is probably not much better.

But it is different now. The state-owned enterprises that are the main force of export can be called "money-gathering machines" and bring all the profits that should have been earned by private capitalists (if private enterprises account for the main body of the economy) into the hands of the government. The ability is extremely strong, able to maintain a relatively elite army and navy, to carry out infrastructure construction in the country, to overhaul railways all over the map, to intervene in foreign situations through loans, to popularize primary education across the country (education has always been a bottomless pit for swallowing money), and to leapfrog develop……

"Our county can collect more than 130 yuan in taxes every year. If it is pushed to the whole country, it is not impossible to collect 150-1637 million yuan in taxes." Shao Yuanyi sat up from the reclining chair, and after drinking a sip of tea, Thinking about it, he said, "Last year, I heard from the magistrate of the county that when the central government first started collecting taxes in 10, they couldn't even collect 16 yuan a year. Over the past 10 years, the types of taxes have changed from one or two to seven, and the total amount of taxes has increased from less than 100 yuan to more than [-] million yuan, which is equivalent to more than three yuan paid by everyone in the country! So much tax is paid, If you can’t even fix a road, I don’t think the Mucaoling township government should mess around, it’s shameful!”

Natasia heard that Shao Yuanyi had always had a deep resentment towards the sandy road, so she gave him a blank look and said, "Since you are worried about the township's money, then the county lord planned to promote you to be the deputy head of the town last time, why don't you?" Reluctant again?"

Shao Yuanyi was suffocated when he heard the words, thinking that he was not fake and noble last time, and wanted to play a trick of visiting the thatched cottage.But who would have thought that Lord Xianzun is an honest person, so it's fine if he invites him once or not, and Shao Yuanyi regrets it too much.At this moment, when I heard my wife mentioning this issue again, I was a little impatient. I just heard him wave his hand and said: "What do you know, you woman, you will not be as comfortable as you are now when you become the deputy head of the township. I want to do some business. People will make irresponsible remarks, it’s not free, I don’t want to do it yet. Forget it, what’s the use of talking to you, hurry up and cook, I’m hungry.”

After sending his wife to the kitchen, Shao Yuanyi slowly sat down on the recliner again, smoking a pipe and puffing away, while thinking about other things: "The business of the Mucaoling Meat Products Factory, which I invested a lot in, is getting better and better. Well, the bacon and ham have even been exported to Jiaohebao in the northwest. Such a booming business can’t be fooled by the tax inspectors in the village. It seems that the amount of consumption tax collected next year is unlikely to stay at four One hundred yuan, it is estimated that it will go up, five or six hundred yuan or even seven or eight hundred yuan."

"Oh, it's still a comfortable day when I didn't pay taxes!" Shao Yuanyi murmured with some longing.But this is just thinking about it. As a Ming person, he is very aware of the consequences of not paying taxes. He still remembers clearly how Daming ended!

Recommend County Magistrate Liang and colleagues of Liang Standing Committee "Looking West: From China to the East Coast"

(End of this chapter)