The tax system of the Tang Dynasty is definitely the most complete tax system on earth today.
And that’s not to say now, but it was already like this thirty years ago when Datang was first established.
As early as when the Tang Dynasty was still nestling in the mountains and valleys, Li Xuan, the great emperor who was greater than the sun, had already made the most wise decision, which was to transform the central institutions of the Tang Dynasty through the reform of the official system.
From the Ming Dynasty's cabinet plus six ministries, it was reformed to nine ministries.
Among these nine departments, there is the tax department.
When the Tax Department was first established, it already showed its strongest side.
The two major policies of levying commercial taxes and unifying agricultural taxes completely laid the foundation for the taxation of the Tang Dynasty. Well, these two major tax policies were also the fundamental reasons why many gentry continued to resist the Tang Dynasty in the following years.
Because the gentry who lived in the pre-Ming Dynasty did not want to pay taxes.
It is a pity that the Tang Dynasty gradually unified China with its extremely powerful military strength, and the ruthless tax inspection team of the Ministry of Taxation swept across the entire Huaxia region like locusts, completely laying the foundation for the Tang Dynasty by confiscating homes and exterminating clans.
Tax basis.
Since that time, the Datang tax system, which established a preliminary commercial tax and a unified agricultural tax system, can be regarded as the most complete tax system on earth.
Not to mention the subsequent series of tax system reforms.
It is not just about improving tax types, but also improving the tax collection work.
Needless to say, the famous tax inspection team, the tax inspectors represented by Chen Lifu had powers similar to imperial envoys, which greatly ensured the smooth progress of tax work.
By now, Datang's taxation work naturally no longer relies on strong military means to promote it, but relies more on legal provisions.
It is recognized that there are many laws in Datang, otherwise there would not be an industry like lawyers in Datang.
Among the many laws in the Tang Dynasty, the laws on taxation were not the most numerous, but they were definitely the most stringent.
In the Tang Dynasty, the nature of tax evasion and tax evasion was no lighter than criminal crimes. It could even be said to be more serious. Over the years, countless people had their families confiscated and exterminated because of tax evasion and tax evasion. As for those who were imprisoned, then
It’s even more difficult to count.
This is because Datang not only has strict tax laws, but also because the tax system has an efficient tax inspection team.
Basically, the local tax inspectors in the Tang Dynasty were local celebrities, and their popularity would even exceed that of the local inspectors. Especially those wealthy people from the upper class. One of the things they worried about most was that one day the tax inspectors would
The inspector came to visit with his tax action force.
And after more than thirty years of continuous development, now in Datang, absolutely no one dares to evade taxes blatantly, even if they evade taxes secretly, they have to be wary.
Such a tax system of the Tang Dynasty, not to mention compared with other contemporary countries, even compared with many modern countries in the original time and space, it has an absolute advantage.
This can be seen from the total annual tax revenue of Datang. Datang collects more than 400 million yuan in tax every year just through traditional taxes.
For comparison, in history, in the mid-19th century, the British fiscal revenue was only tens of millions of pounds. Even in the early 20th century, it was only more than 100 million pounds.
At that time, the British actually had more types of taxes, such as inheritance tax, personal income tax, etc., and because of the development of world trade, their tax revenue was better stimulated, and the development of global trade
The tax increase for the British at that time had a great effect.
But Datang is different. Datang's current main source of tax revenue is still the development of the internal economy.
Because the economic system of the Tang Dynasty was different from that of any other country in later generations.
The economic system of the Tang Dynasty was a very special domestic demand-oriented economic system.
Although the merchant ships of the Tang Dynasty traveled all over the world, in fact, the Tang Dynasty did not do much business with other countries. The ships of the Tang Dynasty mostly traveled between the mainland and overseas territories.
To put it bluntly, the so-called global trade of the Tang Dynasty today is still internal trade in which the left hand exchanges for the right hand. This is essentially different from the international trade that many countries participated in in later generations.
Under this situation, Datang's economic development was more focused on meeting its own internal needs. The local market was the market that imperial merchants valued most. As for overseas exports, that was incidental and not a concern.
This is also reflected in taxes.
For example, Datang's tariffs were actually not that much. Although the total amount seemed to be a lot, it was somewhat inconspicuous when compared to Datang's huge total tax revenue.
In order to increase tax revenue, guide and control economic development, and balance the gap between the rich and the poor, it is not surprising that people from the tax department have set their sights on personal income tax.
The Tang Dynasty actually began to collect personal income tax a long time ago. As early as the Guangdong and Guangxi periods, the Tang Dynasty had already begun to collect personal income tax. However, for a long time, the scope of this collection was limited to officials, and later it was expanded to include
In companies directly controlled by the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises and the Royal Assets Division, it also extends to high-income groups in other private companies.
However, the threshold is very high.
According to the current personal tax regulations, which are the latest personal tax regulations enacted in the 32nd year of Xuanping, only those with an annual salary of more than 500 yuan need to pay personal income tax, and the tax rate is not high.
However, the implementation is not perfect, because it is difficult for the tax department to grasp the specific income of these people. Most of the time, it is levied based on the self-declaration of the company. In order to avoid taxes, the managers of those companies often reduce the fixed salary to 500 yuan.
Tang Yuan and below, and then pay wages in other ways, such as stocks or even in kind.
Therefore, for a long time, Datang's personal income tax was superficial, and the subjects of collection were mainly middle- and senior-level officials and senior management of the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises and the Royal Assets Section.
As for private personal income tax, it is basically impossible to collect it.
But now, the tax department has decided to change this situation.
To change this situation, the tax department still needs to prepare for a lot of work, such as further understanding the company's capital flow and further understanding the specific income of employees.
How to control it?
Promoting labor contracts is a very effective entry point.
In the eyes of others, especially Chen Lifu, the labor contract can be used to protect the interests of employees.
However, in the view of the Ministry of Taxation, this can lay the foundation for the subsequent collection of personal income tax.
In this general environment, Datang officially implemented the Labor Contract Law in an all-round way, stipulating that employers must sign legal labor contracts with employees.