"Houses are not taxed", and property tax was also levied in ancient times.
In the Han Dynasty, when Liu Che was emperor, there was a kind of "money tax". This tax was originally levied on cash, the so-called "money" movable property. Later, the scope of expropriation was extended to family property including fields and houses, which should be the origin of "property tax" in feudal times.
Property tax has a long history. In the classic Book of Rites, which reflects the national politics of the ancient Zhou Dynasty, there is a saying that "public shops are not taxed", which means that renting public shops is not subject to business tax. Zheng Xuan, a scholar in the Eastern Han Dynasty, commented: "Paying taxes on houses means not paying taxes." The "housing tax" here can be understood as a property tax.
"Tax estimation" appeared in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which evolved into deed tax for later generations. The so-called "deed tax" was originally a commercial tax, which was developed during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. At that time, it was stipulated that all transactions of farmland houses, cattle and horses, handmaiden, etc. It should be contracted, and the tax shall be collected (estimated) according to the transaction price of the contract, of which the seller shall bear 3% and the buyer shall bear 1%. Scattered transactions without contracts are subject to "scattered estimation", and the tax rate is 4%, which shall be borne by the seller.
The single property tax officially appeared in the Tang Dynasty, and its tax type is called "shelf tax". "Shelf tax" is named after its taxation unit and method. Each suite has two rooms, which are divided into three grades according to the quality of the house. The room tax is 2000 yuan, the middle room tax 1000 yuan, and the lower room tax is 500 yuan.
Later, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Shi Zhonggui, the youngest ancestor of the late Jin Dynasty, and Chai Rong of Zhou Shizong successively levied "house tax".
The property tax in the Northern Song Dynasty was called "Qiqian", which was collected in the second year of Kaibao (AD 969). Because the deed tax paper used by the exchange at that time was uniformly printed by the government, it was named "deed tax". This is the origin of our tax name "deed tax". At the beginning of the levy, it was levied on the object of selling cultivated land and houses, and the tax rate was 4%.
In the second year of Jian Yan in the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1 128), the deed tax was renamed as "house money". Seven years later, that is, the fifth year of Shaoxing (A.D. 1 135), it was renamed "Daoqian".
The property tax collection in the Southern Song Dynasty was quite strict. In December of the 5th year of Shaoxing (A.D. 1 135), the imperial court ordered all counties and counties to issue "household posts", stipulating that all land and houses owned by ordinary people should be assessed and taxed, and the "household posts" should be collected and posted on the doorplates for inspection, which is called "buying posts".
Later, because it was difficult to estimate the value of farmland houses, we simply divided them into several grades according to the quality of farmland houses, and paid property taxes ranging from 1000 to 30,000 yuan respectively. On this basis, the Southern Song Dynasty levied "inheritance tax".
The "rent" collected in the Yuan Dynasty is very close to the modern "property tax" tax name.
"light tax into the official", policy tax reduction
In ancient China, taxes were complicated, and different dynasties had different names and collection methods, such as taxes, taxes, tribute, assistance, rent, mediocrity, transfer, donation and lijin. In ancient times, there were some commendable places in tax policy, and there would be corresponding tax reduction and exemption policies to reduce the burden on taxpayers and restore and promote production development.
Tax reduction is the wish of taxpayers in ancient and modern times, and it is also a common policy and practice of benefiting the people in ancient and modern times. The practice of "thin tax collection" such as tax reduction and exemption is one of the important contents of "benevolent government" advocated by ancient rulers. Then, how did the ancient government "collect taxes thinly" from the policy?
Generally speaking, in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the new dynasty will implement tax reduction policies to benefit people's livelihood and restore productivity. For example, Emperor Wendi of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wendi of the Sui Dynasty, advocated light luxury tax and "light tax" to actively reduce the tax burden of the people. In the second year of Emperor Chengzu of Ming Dynasty (AD 582), on the basis of previous tax reduction, the court reduced the amount payable by the tenant farmers and shortened the service days. Then, abolish the system of official selling salt wine and stop collecting salt wine tax.
It is a great thing to stop collecting salt and wine tax, just like canceling agricultural tax in modern times. Since the pre-Qin period, salt tax revenue has become an important source of national income. Salt is a necessity of life. The abolition of salt tax and wine tax will benefit thousands of households and greatly reduce the burden on ordinary people.
After the establishment of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, Song Taizu ordered people to plant mulberry and jujube trees, reclaim wasteland and stop collecting land rent. After Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi acceded to the throne, he also ordered the whole country to reduce or exempt taxes: "Where states and counties open their land, Xu Min requires to be a permanent tenant, and the rent will be reduced by one-third at the age of three"; At the same time, the industrial and commercial miscellaneous tax was abolished.
Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor, also did a good job in tax reduction. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the business tax was first reduced and changed to "30 tax one". In the 13th year of Hongwu (1380), it was expressly stipulated that things such as boats, cars, silk, cloth, etc. for military and civilian weddings and sacrifices would no longer be taxed.
Since the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, land tax has been exempted in many places. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi Michelle Ye (a saint of the Qing Dynasty), more places in China were exempted from land tax and grain tax. During Michelle Ye's more than 60 years in power, there have been more than 30 national general exemptions, provincial rotation exemptions and regional exemptions.
Michelle Ye was in the same company, and there was also a year when there was no tax in the world. In the tenth year of Qianlong (A.D. 1745), the imperial court exempted the provinces from money and grain. This "no tax in the world" was implemented in the thirty-five, forty-three and fifty-five years of Qianlong. In the three years of 30 years, 45 years and 60 years, the whole country has been exempted from transporting grain once, which is rare in the history of taxation in China.
"Celebrate with the whole world" and temporarily reduce taxes.
Judging from the historical data of ancient taxation, the "pain index" of ancient people's taxation is indeed very high, especially in turbulent times. Considering the difficulty of paying taxes, in addition to the above-mentioned policy tax cuts, the ancient government also had many temporary tax cuts.
Poll tax and land tax are the biggest taxes of ancient government, and they are also the most important tax relief. Generally speaking, in a disaster year, when the emperor is lucky, emphasizes agriculture to persuade agriculture and encourages immigration, the court will reduce or exempt taxes within a specific scope and for specific targets.
In the Han dynasty, tax relief was a common means used by the imperial court to benefit the people and save the famine. The second year of Liu's reign was a troubled year. According to Hanshu Zhao Di, in the autumn and August of that year, the imperial court issued a letter: "There were many disasters in previous years, and this year, silkworms and wheat were injured. Don't bear the responsibility of loans and food, and don't let people pay rent. "
In ancient times, when the emperor went out to patrol, he usually reduced or exempted taxes to make the local people "happy" and grateful to the emperor.
According to Records of the Emperor of Han Dynasty, Liu Heng, Emperor of Han Dynasty, made a fortune for Taiyuan from Ganquan in 177 BC. Liu Heng stayed in Taiyuan for more than 10 days. As soon as I was happy, I "restored the three-year rent of Jinyang and Zhongdumin". It means that people in Jinyang and Zhongdu are tax-free for three years.
On such an important "festive" day as the new emperor ascended the throne, the emperor and queen celebrated their birthdays, established a prince, and now celebrated elephants. While the imperial court granted amnesty to the whole world, it also easily reduced or exempted taxes and realized "universal celebration". According to the sacrificial records in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, in April of the thirty-second year of Jianwu (AD 56), when Emperor Liu Xiu (Emperor Guangwu) of the Eastern Han Dynasty changed to the first year of "Jianwu Zhongyuan", Bo, Wan and other places were pardoned, and it was not necessary to hand in the grain and livestock fodder rented in that year.
Temporary tax relief measures such as "disaster relief" and "Puqing" in Han Dynasty were still implemented until the end of Qing Dynasty, and affected modern tax management.
"Looking at the overall situation", ancient tax inspection
Tax evasion occurred in modern times and was common in ancient times, so it was severely punished in ancient times.
In the early Sui Dynasty, tax reduction was very strong. In order to ensure the balance of national fiscal revenue and expenditure, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty conducted a nationwide tax inspection, which was called "viewing the overall situation". The so-called "big cable" is a big inspection; "Appearance reading" means checking household registration on the spot to strictly prevent tax evasion.
The "shelving tax" levied in the Tang Dynasty is very heavy for families with multiple properties, and the tax paid is often several hundred yuan. Therefore, from time to time, some people take risks, withhold and pay taxes, and underreport taxes. The court issued a tax policy for this purpose. Anyone who dares to hide a person who doesn't report it is "sixty years old". In order to detect tax evasion in time, the policy has introduced incentives, and informants can get 50 yuan's "bonus".
This "reward policy" in the Tang Dynasty was not initiated by the Tang Dynasty, but was invented by Liu Che, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty.
After the introduction of "money tax" in Liu Che, a "circular order" was issued, the central meaning of which was to encourage people to report tax evasion in the form of material rewards. After verification, half of the informant's property belongs to the informant, that is, in the Historical Records of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, "if the people resign, they will be half of it."
The Death Notice can be said to be the earliest notice of "tax inspection" clearly recorded in the tax history of China.
According to the Song Dynasty, if the land tax is overdue, it will be treated as tax arrears. Judging from the actual collection situation, tax evasion was more serious in the Song Dynasty, especially in the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, the folk way to deal with taxes was that the two sides traded contracts privately and did not declare taxes to the government, which was called the "white deed" phenomenon.
In view of the phenomenon of "white deed", the Southern Song Dynasty also conducted a major tax inspection, which was called "including white deed". In the general inspection, citizens are required to declare their own taxes, and those who fail to report or evade taxes will be confiscated one-third of the total price of the property they fled.
Similarly, the Yuan Dynasty severely punished tax evaders. For example, the business tax, the yuan government stipulates that whoever conceals the tax, half of the materials are not official. Once the thief is found, "the offender is fifty."
Similarly, in order to encourage whistle-blowers, 50% of the confiscated property will be awarded as a bonus to whistle-blowers.