Chapter 696: Business in the Song Dynasty
Hearing this, Li Si said thoughtfully: "So, to support such a huge expense, the Song Dynasty's treasury must be very rich.
If you want to make money, you can only tax, but no matter how much you tax the farmers, you can only tax a little. Only by taxing businessmen can you stabilize the imperial treasury.
So the business in the Song Dynasty was really prosperous. "
"Of course." Qin An said, "From the First Emperor to the Qing Dynasty, for more than two thousand years, the Song Dynasty ranked first in economic development.
The tax collection system of the Song Dynasty is very distinctive, that is, it emphasizes taxes and despises servitude. The main content of commercial taxes in the Song Dynasty includes two aspects: domestic commercial taxes and foreign trade commercial taxes. "
Qin An paused, as if he thought of something, and immediately said: "This topic is a bit long. If you want to know, let's clear the table, then I'll make tea, and we'll drink and chat."
Only then did everyone realize that there was a table full of food and wine in front of them, and it was time to clear it up.
Ying Zheng said: "Lao Zhang, please take a few people to clean up, while Qin An goes to make tea."
"promise."
"good."
Zhang Han and Qin An responded at the same time.
Later, Zhang Han asked several Black Dragon Guards to help handle the dishes on the table, and a woman also came out to help.
This woman takes care of Qin An's food, clothing and daily life, helping Qin An clean the room and other household chores, including cooking.
After clearing the table, Qin An came out with a tray. There were nine glasses on the tray. There were tea leaves in the glasses, but there was no hot water yet.
After a while, the woman came out of the kitchen with a thermos bottle and poured hot water into each tea cup. Then she returned to the kitchen, but the thermos bottle was placed on the stone table.
"Everyone take it yourself, you're welcome." Qin An said, then he took a cup of tea and drank it.
Everyone also took a glass, took a sip and put it on the table, it was a bit hot.
After Qin An put down the cup, he continued: "I just talked about the two taxes in the Song Dynasty, domestic tax and foreign trade tax.
There are three types of domestic commercial taxes: toll tax, residential tax and excise tax.
Crossing tax: also known as "passing tax" or "gateway tax", it is a tax levied on merchants passing through checkpoints. Merchants need to present an official pass and pay taxes based on the type and quantity of goods.
This can prevent merchants from evading taxes. Once the type and quantity of goods do not match, it may cause a lot of trouble, and the government may directly confiscate the goods. literature
Residential tax: Also known as "residence tax", it is a tax levied on merchants who open shops in cities or market towns. Residential tax is levied as a certain percentage of the value of a merchant's goods.
This is very similar to the current stall fee. If you want to do business, you have to rent this stall. However, the tax on stores can actually be called business tax.
Next, let’s talk about excise tax: also called “miscellaneous tax”, it is a tax levied on the sale of goods. The levy standard for goods tax is another certain proportion of the value of the goods.
In fact, it is better to turn the goods tax into a business tax. It is based on how much you earn, and then you pay how much you pay.
In this way, traders can produce goods without fear and business can be better.
However, ancient times are not modern times. There was not such advanced information technology in ancient times. Once the money of one's transactions was lied about, the court would lose more. "
Li Si said: "Qin An, how does the outside world collect taxes?"
Qin An said: "For workers, the tax is deducted directly when they are paid. For enterprises, there is a special financial department to hand over to the tax bureau. Basically once a month.
The finance department will calculate all the accounts clearly, and the tax bureau will be able to find out clearly in one inspection. "
"What if the company evades taxes?" Li Si said.
"Then check the accounts." Qin An said, "I said that every company will have account books. Even if you falsify the account books, it will be useless, the country can still find out clearly.
This is professional people doing professional things. I don’t know how to investigate. "
"Okay." Li Si said, "Then you can pay taxes on foreign trade."
Since Qin An didn't know either, Li Si stopped asking and would explore it slowly by himself in the future. However, the commercial tax from the Song Dynasty could be used in the Qin Dynasty.
Qin An nodded and said: "There are two main types of foreign trade taxes in the Song Dynasty: export tax and import tax.
Export tax: A tax levied on exported goods, with rates based on the type and value of the goods.
Import tax: A tax levied on imported goods, with rates also based on the type and value of the goods.
These two taxes have continued to this day, but many laws have been changed in the middle.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the great powers asked China to open its treaty ports and even took control of the ports, in order to keep export and import taxes in their hands.
These two taxes account for half of the country's revenue.
This tax is also called tariff, and tariff is also called inland tariff and customs tariff.
The improvement of the commercial tax system in the Song Dynasty played a positive role in promoting the economic development at that time.
Speaking of which, father-in-law, these ten miles and eight villages cannot learn the tax system of the outside world, but they can learn the commercial tax system of the Song Dynasty.
For that time, the commercial tax system of the Song Dynasty was quite complete.
If during the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang had used the commercial tax system of the Song Dynasty instead of focusing on agriculture and suppressing business, the Ming Dynasty would never have died so quickly.
Moreover, the invented royal title system was also very unreasonable. It was nothing at first, but after just two hundred years, this system became one of the murderers of the Ming Dynasty.
There is also the land system.
In the Ming Dynasty, land could be annexed, but people with official titles could pay different taxes. In order to avoid paying taxes, many farmers linked their land to people with official titles.
This is also one of the murderers of Ming Dynasty.
If Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, had learned about the land policy of apportioning every man into an acre, then the Ming Dynasty would have had a national destiny of eight hundred years without a thousand years of national destiny. "
"What is it?" Ying Zheng stood up excitedly.
Qin An said: "Dividing people into acres, also known as dividing people into land, and combining land and land, means that if you have land, you pay taxes, but if you don't have land, you don't have to pay taxes. It has abolished the capitation tax, head tax and other miscellaneous taxes.
If my father-in-law has 2,000 acres of land, he will pay the tax on the 2,000 acres of land. Instead, if my father-in-law has only ten people in his family, he will only pay the head tax on ten people.
This will not only reduce the burden on people who have no land or have little income, but also allow wealthy businessmen, landlords, and officials who own large amounts of land to pay less taxes.
The court did not have to worry about the treasury running out of food. "
"It's good for one person to work for an acre." Ying Zheng said excitedly, "In this way, the people from all over the country will be able to greatly reduce their burden, and they will definitely support me even more."
"Father-in-law, if you want to implement this plan, you must do it quickly and with strong methods. Otherwise, there will be many people who oppose it, and more importantly, there will be many people who violate it."
