Purchase

In all the states of ancient Greece, tax collection was left to private individuals. In Athens, farmers often formed large units in shares. The collection was carried out either by the farmers themselves, or through hired servants or slaves. The smugglers themselves monitored the smuggling and, in preventing it, could carry out searches, as a result of which they did not enjoy the love of the population. For failure to pay on time, the farmers lost their citizenship, were arrested, and could be subject to confiscation of property.

In Rome, most of the taxes were handed over to bidding, which took place annually at the forum, under a loaded spear ( hasta - sign of auction or bidding). Traders or publishers (publicani, from publica = state revenues) could ask the senate (later - sometimes sometimes the people) to cancel the bidding and appoint new ones if the figure that they had to pay was inappropriately high. Redemption required significant financial resources, as a result of which only the capitalists of the horseman qualification were able to do so, especially since senators were forbidden to engage in monetary affairs. When the capital of one person was not enough, companies (societates) were compiled, taking different incomes in Italy and the provinces; they were first mentioned in 217 BC. One member of the company, on behalf of all, made a buy-out condition: he was called manceps. At the head of the company were annually replaced by magistri. The number of lower and secondary employees was very large; they were, for the most part, freedmen and slaves, but citizens did not disdain this occupation. The farmers and the tax-paying population sometimes concluded conditions among themselves, but in general, farmers greatly oppressed the provincials and even the inhabitants of Italy; the appeal in Rome was of little use, especially since the governors of the provinces, usually the debtors of the public, patronized them in every way. Being a force in the state, the publishers easily sought the displacement of persons they disliked. In imperial times, the same disorders remained, although the governor was given the right to impose administrative punishments on the public. At the end of the existence of the Roman Empire, only customs duties began to be surrendered ^[1] .

France

In France, from the 13th century , most of the taxes were paid to private individuals in all parts of the kingdom. The terms of purchase were not subject to any general rules; in most cases, the king did not even know how profitable individual articles were surrendered.

The first attempt to streamline the farms in France was made by Minister Sully under King Henry IV . He grouped similar objects of reckoning into groups and began to give separate groups to redeem from bidding; these measures yielded extremely favorable financial results. At this time, four groups of surrendered income were formed:

• Customs ( fr: Cinq Grosses Fermes ),
• excise tax on beverages ( aides ),
• salt tax ( gabelles ) in most of France,
• salt tax in Languedoc .

There were 18 more small local merchandise items.

Colbert completed the reform of Sully in 1681, transferring to the society of 40 financiers, for an annual amount of 56 670 thousand livres, rights previously owned by individual farmers.

General purchase

Finally, a company of farmers was organized under Minister Fleury (1726); it was decided that no one other than those who had a diploma of the king for the title of general farmer ( fermier général ) with a validity period of 6 years could not be among the farmers.

Turgot canceled the gift of 100,000 livres, which before him was given to the Comptroller General upon renewal of the contract; he also obtained a decree so that pensions from the means of farmers were no longer assigned.

Necker retained the merchandise only for customs, salt excise tax and tobacco monopoly; drink and land taxes were handed over to two other companies (Régie générale and Administration générale des domaines). This reform raised by 1786 indirect tax revenues to 242 million.

In 1789, all general farmers together contributed a total of 46 million livres to the treasury; meanwhile, it is known that their income reached 17 million in 1728, 126 million in 1762, and 138 million livres in 1789. French society was extremely hostile to their management, the press expressed only a common opinion, representing the farmers as a syndicate of robbers sharing their booty with the royal court. However, the very nature of taxes that were surrendered, the internal customs that separated the province from the province, the importunity and insolence of the spies held by the farmers to track down the smugglers , and the severe punishments of the smugglers most strongly aroused displeasure.

The French Revolution in 1789 declared the general farms abolished, and the revolutionary tribunal of the 19th Floreal II year ( May 8, 1794 ) sentenced all the farmers (31 people) to death, except one that was deleted by Robespierre from the list, and the sentence was carried out. Among the executed was the farmer Lavoisier , now considered the founder of modern chemistry.

Russia

Mongolian period

Immediately after the establishment of Mongol dominion in northwestern Russia (mid-13th century), tributes from the Russian principalities were collected by Muslims - the "bezeremen", who bought this right from the Mongols. This practice caused frequent uprisings, therefore the Mongols decided to transfer the collection of tribute to the Russian princes themselves. So, after the suppression of the Tver uprising together with the Mongols (1327), the Moscow prince Ivan I Kalita received from the Khan of the Golden Horde not only a label for the Great reign, but also the position of general distributor for collecting tribute in other Russian principalities. This appointment brought Ivan and his heirs significant revenues and allowed Moscow to occupy a dominant position on Russian lands subject to the Horde ^[2] .

XV — XIX centuries

During this period, customs, salt, and wine farms received great development. Wine farms were introduced in the 16th century and gained the greatest importance in the 18th - 19th centuries . The treasury income from drinking tax amounted to over 40% of the total taxes of the state budget. Moreover, in some provinces, the percentage of income from the drinking tax varied to astronomical values, for example, in the Chernihiv province at the beginning of the First World War, revenues from the drinking tax were six times higher than income from the land tax ^[3] .

Under Catherine II , a commission was established to consider wine and salt collections , which spoke exclusively in favor of the farmer, which was declared a manifesto on August 1, 1765 . Since 1767, farms have been introduced everywhere (except for Siberia) with a return from auction for 4 years. Wine (that is, vodka , which was called "bread wine"), part buyers received from the treasury, some could have their own. Kabaki was ordered to call it “drinking houses” and put state emblems on them, “like on houses under our protection”. The service of the farmers is recognized as state (they are “crown attorneys”). With the establishment of state chambers in 1775, the local drinking department was entrusted to him. According to the "Charter on Wine" of 1781, wine was prepared for the farmers by the treasury chamber from state-owned or private factories, whichever is more profitable.

The wine went to government stores, from where it was sold to drinking houses. The treasury income after the publication of the 1781 charter reached 10 million rubles, but soon as a result of abuses by farmers it began to decline. Abuses were determined by the law itself: the farmers pledged to sell wine at the same price at which they received it from the treasury, paying, in addition, the redemption amount; it is obvious that the benefits of the repurchase operation could be formed only by means of corruption and deterioration in the quality of wine.

Since 1799, the procurement of wine was granted to the farmers themselves, with the right to store wine wherever they want. Farms were given by counties and provinces; paying a monthly repayable amount, the vendor used all the proceeds from the sale of drinks and snacks; trading was carried out every 4 years.

Due to the abuses of farmers and increased drunkenness , a committee was established in 1805 to find measures to limit the breeding of taverns while maintaining drinking income at the previous level, which at that time amounted to about 12 million rubles, which amounted to 1/4 of all state revenue. The committee’s assumptions formed the basis of the redemption conditions for 1807-1811, which consisted of the following: vendors sell state-owned and their own wine; in the first case, they are obliged to choose a certain proportion at the state procurement price; in the second case, wine can be of its own factories, if the farmer is a nobleman; the purchase amount is paid every half month; a certain price was set for vodka.

The redemption amount for the 4th anniversary of 1811-1815 amounted to more than 53 million rubles a year; but the ruin of 1812 , an increase in taxes and duties, led to a decrease in the consumption of drinks and to the accumulation of arrears by the farmers, partly malicious. They incurred the main loss from doubling the procurement price of wine (instead of 50 kopecks, 1 ruble per bucket). In the conditions of 1815-1819 , the traders were invited to procure wine themselves, but with state money, which made them commission agents of the treasury. The procurement price was set a certain; whether it will be higher or lower than the real price is the business of the dealer; The sale price of wine increased to 7 rubles.

Due to the inconvenience and abuse of the repayment system, the government, at the suggestion of the Minister of Finance Guryev, came up with the idea of ​​introducing a system of treasury sales of wine as a transitional measure to replace the repayment system with excise tax. The official sale of wine was introduced by the charter of 1817 and existed for 10 years.

However, since 1827, at the insistence of the Minister of Finance , E.F. Kankrin, the government again switched to a payoff system. Under the new conditions, the purchase amount was over 72 3/4 million rubles per year; the treasury took over the procurement of wine. The farmers had to choose it at a price close to the procurement, and what was required above the harvested, they could buy from the breeders or make it themselves if they had the right to distill. On top of that, they were given the excise excuse to make all kinds of vodka, as well as inferior beers, keep tavern guard within their reach and have their own superintendents in distilleries. According to the conditions for 1839-1843 , the purchase amount amounted to over 39.5 million rubles in silver, but many farmers turned out to be malfunctioning, so that by 1843 there were arrears of 10 3/4 million rubles. To consider the state of affairs and the requests of the farmers , a secret committee was established in March 1844, which did not change the essence of the previous conditions.

In the same 1844, V. A. Kokorev submitted to the government a project to change the repayable system, the bad structure of which, according to the author, led to the fact that "part of the money remains unchosen from capital that is abundantly rotating among the people." This project served as the basis for the “provision on excise tax-paying commission” for 1847-1851, according to which each city with a county made a drink, the so-called excise articles were auctioned, and those who took them were also commissioned to sell state-owned wine; each farmer received a certain monthly proportion of wine sold to the farmer for 3 rubles ( half a grain ) and 4.5 rubles (improved half a grain for tinctures) per bucket; the commission agent received 25 rubles for a commission and for expenses on wine from 25 rubles per bucket and, moreover, from 10 to 15% from all wine in general; for wine selected in excess of proportion, he made a 50% concession; the farmer received the wine in the form of alcohol and sprinkled it himself; he was obliged to sell wine at the established fortress and at a fixed price, vodka, beer and honey - at free prices. The abuse of the commissioners caused the formation of a new secret committee in 1852 , but as a result of the Crimean War, the government, fearing a decrease in income when changing the system, decided to leave the farms as they were. They were commissioned in 1854 for 59 million rubles, in 1856 - for 64.6 million rubles, in 1858 - for 91.6 million rubles. To compensate for the losses, the farmers resorted to an arbitrary increase in prices and to the refusal of consumers to dispense simple wine; the latter began to form sobriety societies in the form of protest and in the summer of 1859 such societies acted in 32 provinces; Riots took place in many places, and as a result, about 3 thousand taverns were ruined. By his special decree, the Minister of Finance banned anti-alcohol gatherings ^[4] and even demanded "to destroy the existing sentences on abstinence from wine and continue to prevent them." In May 1859, peasants began the rout of drinking establishments and unrest in 15 provinces, but were crushed by troops ^[5] . This movement was described in detail by writer and publicist A.I. Herzen in the revolutionary newspaper Kolokol and in the appendix “Under Judgment!” Was even mentioned in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia ^{[6] [7]} , but is little known in modern Russia.

All this prompted the government to put an end to the mercantile system, which was abolished in 1863 and replaced by excise taxes .

• Gunzburg, Evzel Gavriilovich
• Jacob of Pont-Saint-Maxans
• Kokorev, Vasily Alexandrovich
• Yudin, Gennady Vasilievich
• Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent

• Richard Pipes. Russia under the old regime. - New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1974 .-- 361 p. - ISBN 0-684-14826-9 .

• Lovyagin A.M. Otkup // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1897. - T. XXII. - S. 427-428.