Salt tax

Salt tax - a salt tax that existed in many countries at different times; had an important advantage from the point of view of the financial system, namely the convenience of collection, and as a result, it was held in many tax systems.

Salt production is usually concentrated in a few places in the country, and sometimes this is achieved through artificial regulation; So, in France, in 1885, there were only 22 independent salt enterprises. In such circumstances, tax collection is very easy and cheap.

Falling on the basis of basic necessities, the salt tax is considered the worst type of state tax : it contributes to the cost of raw materials for many industries, especially for cattle breeding and fishing .

In addition to the importance of salt for humans, salt is important as livestock feed and as a means of fertilizing the soil, as well as industrially: almost all countries where the salt tax existed supplied many industries with duty-free salt, which easily led to smuggling and required very complex control over the use of duty free salt. But salt did not have surrogates , and because of this, its taxation promised a good income. Only with the growing influence of the poor classes did the value of this source of income begin to decline. The interests of the developing industry also played a large role in the destruction of salt excise duty in England: the abolition of excise duty on salt contributed to the development of the English chemical industry.

Content

Tax Forms

Forms of salt deposition ^[1] :

the state takes control of all production and wholesale of salt, but leaves its retail sale quite free ( salt regalia in Austria and Italy);
the state takes in its hands only the sale of salt;
the state sets a certain excise tax on salt (France). In Russia, salt excise tax was abolished in 1880.

Salt Regalia

In Austria, every person who discovered a salt source had to notify the local financial department about this within a certain period of time; if the source was found suitable for exploitation, it was purchased in the treasury, otherwise it fell asleep to prevent the secret extraction of salt.

All salt mined went to state-owned stores, from where it was sold at a set price, several times higher than the cost of production; for industrial purposes, salt was sold at a reduced price.

Salt Conception

Given the weakness of the government mechanism and the poor composition of the bureaucracy, the existence of a salt monopoly did not guarantee the risk of smuggling of salt or its transport to the country, as a result of which the so-called salt concretion was often established, that is, a sample of a certain amount of salt required for everyone. So, for example, under Frederick the Great, it was supposed to choose 15.5 pounds of salt for each person, and 7 3/4 pounds for a cow; the same amount of salt had to be chosen for every 10 sheep.

Country Taxes

French tax

In France, from the 14th century , salt regalia existed; the whole country was divided into districts, with different levels of salt prices. The tax was very high, and this fact, as well as the variety of prices depending on the region, caused terrible smuggling. Special detectives went home, tasting salt to make sure it was obtained from government stores; in the event of the discovery of smuggled salt, the perpetrators were severely punished.

Over time, excise taxes on salt were introduced in France. All salt production was strictly controlled there, but salt that went to livestock feed for the production of soda and for fishing was exempted from the tax. The shy conditions surrounding the sale of salt for fishing purposes hindered the development of the latter.

Russian tax

In Russia, the system for generating income from salt has changed many times: either regalia was established, then a tax was introduced, or the salt industry was left to the mercy . In 1862, the excise tax on salt was finally established, and in this form it lasted about 20 years. By a high decree on November 23, 1880, the salt excise tax was canceled.

Another commission for the study of agriculture in 1873 pointed out the harmful effects of this tax on Russian cattle breeding, and in 1879 and 1880. the Russian merchants at the Nizhny Novgorod fair submitted to the government a petition to abolish the salt tax.

The abolition of the salt tax was met very sympathetically by Russian society. The agricultural character of the country, the predominance of plant substances in the food composition of the population caused a great need for salt. It is noted that in those areas where there are salt marshes on pastures and pastures, sheep are distinguished by height, ability to feed and good quality meat and sheepskin.

The salt tax in the Russian Empire was not the same for different areas of the country: it ranged from 8 to 30 kopecks. per pood, and thereby balanced the different costs of salt production in different parts of Russia. This was considered a kind of patronizing policy regarding certain mining areas. With the abolition of the salt tax, some saltworks had to stop the extraction of salt. However, the abolition of the tax greatly increased salt production in other places: in the five years preceding the abolition (1876–1880), 54 million pounds of salt were mined, and in the five years following the abolition, 78.3 million poods, i.e. more by as much as 45%. The price of salt also dropped significantly: before salt was sold at 50 kopecks. - 1 rub. per pood, after cancellation - 20-40 kopecks.

In 1892, the Ministry of Finance raised the question of restoring the salt tax, but to no avail.

Notes

↑ Salt tax // Small Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 4 volumes - St. Petersburg. 1907-1909.

Literature

I. I. Yanzhul, “Causes and Consequences of the Abolition of the Salt Tax” in his “Essays and Studies” (M., 1884, vol. II);
L. V. Khodsky, “Foundations of a state economy” (St. Petersburg 1894, pp. 305–327);
N. Bunge, "Studies on the restoration of the salt tax" (1893);
Chernyaev, “On salt before and after the abolition of the excise tax” (1890);
Shoshin, “Code of legalizations on the salt industry in Russia” (1893).
Alfred Schmidt, Das Salz. Eine volkswirthschaftliche und finanzielle Studio ”(1874).

Links

Salt tax // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

[1] Salt tax // Small Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 4 volumes - St. Petersburg. 1907-1909.