,
But "property" is a very broad concept. As far as this time and space is concerned, everything from land and houses to antiques, valuable clothing, jewelry, and sold slaves can be counted as "property." For shops, business tools such as counters and scales - "money-making tools" - are also property.
Valuing these items one by one was almost impossible with the Senate's tax system. Firstly, they lack qualified accounting personnel, and secondly, there are no standards for the valuation of many items - such as paintings, calligraphy, toys, and antiques that are commonly displayed in large quantities in many wealthy families... In theory, they are all valuable, but it is difficult to Measure it with price.
This kind of random place is a great opportunity for power rent-seeking. The elders do not have three heads and six arms, so they cannot do everything themselves. The integrity of naturalized civilian cadres and the Cheka’s anti-corruption capabilities cannot be trusted too much.
Ai Zhixin thought over and over again, combined with the suggestions of other financial department personnel, and decided to focus on real estate such as shops, mansions, forests, and farmland in property valuation.
These real estate properties are not easy to hide, the market has relatively clear transaction prices for reference, and there are standards for valuation data to follow. In particular, the registration of real estate such as houses and land was relatively complete in the Ming Dynasty. Every time the Senate accepted a city, it had to re-register the real estate and issue a real estate deed, so the information on house property rights was quite complete. It is quite reasonable as a basis for tax collection.
Real estate such as farmland, mountains and forests also has relatively clear registration information. In particular, the rural areas around Guangzhou have begun the work of "clearing the land" and re-registering various types of rural land. After this part of the information is released, not only the collection of agricultural taxes will be guaranteed, but also the accounting of real estate taxes can be started.
Slaves are also considered a kind of property, so when property taxes are levied, their value is calculated based on their deeds and included in the total property calculation.
In accordance with the principle of "containing prohibition but taxing", an additional "slaveholding tax" was levied, abolishing the exemption point for slaveholding in the past, and levying it on a per-person basis. At the same time, the progressive principle was continued. The more slaves, the higher the tax rate.
Due to difficulties in valuation, liquid properties such as goods, currency (gold and silver), etc., can only be estimated through fixed properties in the real estate category for the time being. Generally, they are classified according to the occupation of the taxable objects. A businessman believes that his current assets will be relatively high. When calculating assets, according to It is calculated as 100% of the total value of real estate. Large landowners calculate it as 50%. Rich peasants, large households and small businessmen do not estimate current assets.
Real property plus estimated liquid property equals total assets.
The tax rate is 1% of total assets per year for large businessmen with assets above a certain level, 05% for large landowners, and 02% for ordinary large households, rich peasants, and small businessmen.
Small households whose real estate is worth less than a certain value are only levied a nominal head tax.
Agricultural tax is a special tax within property tax. In terms of specific collection, the progressive system will be abolished and a fixed tax rate will be adopted based on the land area. In-kind taxes are mainly imposed on grain and other grain-type crops.
Agricultural tax collection already has a fairly mature mechanism in Hainan. Ai Zhixin doesn't need to worry too much, just follow the original regulations.
The second largest type of tax is circulation tax.
Roughly speaking, it is lijin, customs duties, admission inspection fees, consumption tax, etc.
There are two major tax values: one is a basic tax rate for entry-to-market sales similar to tariffs, which is levied by setting up cards at city gates, ferries, bridges and other traffic arteries.
All goods that are to be sold in the market are subject to an initial 5% charge. They must undergo random inspections before being sold in the market to ensure basic safety. Goods that enter the market without passing the inspection stage are considered private goods. Once there are health and quality problems, buyers and cargo owners All will be severely punished.
The second is for some bulk commodity trading wholesale markets: such as rice, salt, tea, spices, wood, wine, meat, vegetables, fishery products, etc., special ad valorem taxes are levied in major wholesale markets.
The cumulative circulation tax paid on general commodities shall not exceed 20% of the local price. Each tax collection checkpoint and market will provide relevant tax stamps as tax collection vouchers to avoid repeated tax collection. For shops dealing with people's livelihood that are in short supply in the market, tax exemptions and low tax rates will be implemented.
The third largest tax is stamp duty. Stamp duty is actually a direct tax. However, the pain of the tax burden is relatively small. The problem is that the amount collected cannot be too high. Ai Zhixin plans to collect license stamp tax. Each shop has a sales license-related fixed amount and pays stamp tax every year. The money paid for the relevant license can be used to sell related products and accept supervision at the same time. This tax is temporarily collected by each trade association. After collection, the finance and taxation department will return part of it as the trade association's expenses and be responsible for supervision.
The issuance of various business licenses, licenses, land deeds, house deeds, contracts, etc. all require a one-time or annual payment of stamp duty to strengthen the concept of contract law.
Ai Zhixin's plan focuses on circulation tax. Circulation tax is an indirect tax with low tax collection costs and low tax pain. It also has low requirements on collectors and is in line with the Senate's existing technical and manpower conditions. The collection of direct taxes is complicated, the cost of taxation is high, the tax burden is painful, and there is the possibility of intensifying social conflicts. However, it has the social benefit of regulating the rich and the poor, so some taxes must be levied.
The overall tax policy is: currency reform first, taxation second. Taxation was used to promote currency reform, and at the same time, it forced old industrial and commercial enterprises and large households to introduce modern accounting systems and improve their accounts.
When collecting tax, legal currency and some physical goods (agricultural taxes) will be collected. Broken silver, copper coins and other physical goods from shops will not be collected.
When it comes to property tax collection, we should first be more lenient and levy more, and then if the other party applies for reconsideration, the overtaxed tax can be refunded. When making a tax refund, as long as the other party provides relevant accounting information: such as property, land deeds, and accounting books to prove that the overcharge has been overcharged, the overcharged amount can be refunded even if the other party conceals it, thereby encouraging businessmen and large households to use their property and sales income Wait for the accounting information to be reported during the tax refund review process.
The tax refund is given with a certain interest, and the tax refund is paid in legal currency. In terms of specific implementation, it is mainly paid in circulation certificates. Ensure that the new legal currency: silver dollars and circulation notes are stable and usable. Legal currency actually includes seigniorage, which is much higher than general tax revenue.
In order to cultivate a mindset of tax obligation, adults over the age of 18, regardless of gender, were required to pay a poll tax. The tax amount of the head tax is very low. Taxpayers purchase tax stamps by themselves and stick them on the back of their certificates. If the tax stamp is not found when checking the certificate, it is tax evasion.
Ai Zhixin knows that his simplified and simplified tax system still has big problems, especially in terms of specific implementation, there are still many details to standardize. He thought for a while and decided to put the matter to a meeting of elders in Guangzhou before discussing it - after all, in practice it is better to brainstorm ideas than to work behind closed doors.
He knew very well that what he was going to do would be considered "horrible" in the old times, especially the big households in Guangzhou. You can imagine their faces after learning about the tax plan. They really wanted to "eat their flesh and sleep on their skin" "Yes. Even the shopkeepers of small shops who have been exempted from extortion due to "changing the world" will probably cry when they see these tax items and say that they can't survive.
After a few months of implementation, there will probably be merchants in Guangzhou who hang themselves in the water because of tax issues - this is inevitable. When the Republic of China government imposed a slaughter tax, there were anti-slaughter tax riots everywhere. Many places failed to implement it in the end. The introduction of slaughter tax after the founding of New China also met with great resistance.
Once the new tax system is fully rolled out, the social conflicts in Guangzhou will inevitably intensify. The harmonious atmosphere that the Senate and Guangzhou citizens have enjoyed since entering the city will probably no longer exist.
However, at present, both the central and local governments are spending money like water. Mayor Liu made a lot of money recently due to the ban on tooth shops and witchcraft cases. Although the plague that followed caused considerable losses to the finances, there is still some balance, so Ai Zhixin still has some money left. There is a buffer time to gradually implement and rectify the tax. Since the cow in Guangzhou has fallen into the hands of the Senate, there is no reason not to milk it properly. According to the estimates of Wudaokou officials, Guangzhou's tax potential is huge.
However, what makes Ai Zhixin more difficult is places outside Guangzhou. Because in addition to being the director of the Guangzhou Finance and Taxation Bureau, he is also the finance and taxation commissioner of the Guangdong Region.
As the second largest source of tax revenue for the Ming Dynasty, Guangdong had no reason not to raise more tax revenue under the rule of the Senate. However, Guangzhou and even the Pearl River Delta are easy to say. After all, it is the place with the highest concentration of elders and naturalized cadres. Although the governance level is not as good as that of Hainan, Taiwan and Jeju, it is still much better than that of the Ming Dynasty.
But as soon as they left the Pearl River Delta, the Senate's governance efficiency was extremely reduced. Ai Zhixin's tax system can probably still be implemented reluctantly in the county. Agricultural taxes can rely on the past system of collecting grain taxes. As for other taxes, there is probably no possibility of collecting them.
Ai Zhixin thought over and over again and came up with the idea of implementing a tax farming system in these new ruling areas with weak ruling foundations.
The so-called tax farming system means that the state contracts the government's tax collection activities to the highest bidder, and the latter only needs to pay a certain amount of rent to the state in advance and can retain other tax revenue. The tax farming system has a long history. Before the 19th century, the tax farming system was the most important tax collection mechanism used in many countries. Under this system, tax farming actually allows the state to obtain higher tax revenues at lower administrative costs.
However, Ai Zhixin himself felt that this proposal was a bit risky. Because in the Senate, the tax farming system was an evil system because it allowed the fate of taxpayers to be manipulated in the hands of greedy tax farmers. Moreover, there are countless examples in history of tax collectors’ insatiable greed and wanton exploitation that have had a negative impact. In almost all history books, the tax farming system is an object of criticism.
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Next update: Volume 7 - Strategy for Guangdong and Guangxi Chapter 64
