Nine hundred and fifty-eight chapters tax collection
Hearing Wei Shuyu's explanation, Du He was also stunned.
"Brother Wei, what's going on?" he asked hurriedly.
Wei Shuyu scratched his head and said with some embarrassment: "Brother Du, to tell you the truth, the tax balance from last year totaled more than 30,000 guan. Originally, the annual expenditure of a county government was only a few thousand guan.
However, during my tenure as county magistrate, in order to appease the people, I built a number of houses for the homeless people, and also renovated two roads in the county seat of Hu County. It cost more than 30,000 yuan to go back and forth.
Now, the county government has lost a penny, but it still needs at least 20,000 guan to build roads. Therefore, I wonder if I can borrow money from you in the name of the county government. After this year's taxes come up,
, except for turning it over to the court and repaying the loan from Wudi Bank, the rest will be paid back to you first..."
Taxes in this era were usually collected once a year.
The county government is now on the verge of bankruptcy.
Wei Shuyu had no choice but to send a suicidal ox to Du He, but the purpose was to borrow money from Du He.
Du He couldn't laugh or cry.
Wei Shuyu obviously has no ability to make money, but he has been dealing with Du He for a long time, and he doesn't feel bad at all when he spends money.
Thirty thousand guan, if given to county magistrates in other places, those people would be laughing so hard that they would not be able to sleep, and they could use it for ten years if they embezzled it casually.
Wei Shuyu, on the other hand, directly built houses for the people, and also renovated two roads in the city to the same standards as the People's Avenue in Chang'an.
No wonder it went bankrupt.
Du He thought for a while, turned to look at Wei Shuyu, and said jokingly: "Brother Wei, you are guarding the golden mountain without knowing it. You are rich now, why do you need to borrow money from me?"
Wei Shuyu didn't come back to his senses for a long time: "Brother Du, you mean that the county government still has money? That's impossible. I have taken people to the county government's warehouse to look inside and outside. There are indeed several Kaiyuan Tongbao.
, but this is not enough to cover the county government’s expenses for one day.”
This guy just lacks a brain.
Du He said with a smile: "Brother Wei, a large number of people have come to the county now, and restaurants, grain shops, and cloth shops are all open. Why don't we change the tax collected once a year to a monthly one?"
As for collection, in the past, merchants only had to pay taxes every year, and most of the merchants were local nobles. They paid the same taxes every year. The taxes received by the county government were pitiful... Now, why don't we change the way we used to do it?
, Those who make more money will be taxed more, those who make less money will be taxed less or even no tax. They will collect one-twentieth of the money they make from each merchant every month, and those who make less than ten thousand yuan will not have to pay taxes.
...In this way, wouldn’t this problem be solved?”
In the past, merchants paid taxes the same every year, based on the size of the merchant's area and the business they engaged in. It was very complicated and there was no standard.
What Du He has to do is to change the past tradition and pay taxes directly as a proportion of turnover.
Wei Shuyu wondered: "But when you were the county magistrate, didn't you implement the three major policies to exempt the people of Hu County from paying taxes for two years?"
Du He said with a smile: "Yes, what is written in black and white is aimed at the people of Hu County. But now all the merchants in the county have changed their people. Most of these people are from Chang'an or other places. They are not here.
The people of Huxian County are not included in the yellow list of Huxian County. Isn't it reasonable to collect taxes from them?"
Wei Shuyu asked again: "But what if the merchants object? Brother Du's move will make some small merchants happy, but it will also harm the interests of many people!"
He was absolutely right in saying this.
Before he finished speaking, Li Ke, who had been silent at the side, laughed and said: "Why do you have to worry about anything? With the city management team here, I want to see who is not afraid of death and dares to object!"
Du He said earnestly: "Brother Wei, why don't we set up a tax bureau to take care of the collection of taxes? We don't have to worry about merchants doing tricks on it. The tax bureau will conduct random inspections every month. Once someone is found to be committing fraud,
The minimum fine is 5,000 guan and the maximum fine is 100,000 guan... We will train a group of professional auditors and encourage people to appeal. Within a few months, the situation can be stabilized."
In this era, it is difficult to achieve transparency for future generations because there is no scientific and technological means. Moreover, it is just starting out and is too complicated to promote.
So what Du He told Wei Shuyu was the easiest to operate.
Wei Shuyu and Du He believed in Du He's words and unconditionally believed in Du He.
The next day, the county government issued a notice to recruit a group of accountants, numbering as many as fifty.
In a few days, the recruitment will be over.
The county government established a tax bureau and at the same time, notices were posted.
From then on, those who engaged in business in Huxian County, whether in shops or in markets, and who made more than ten guan per month were required to pay a tax at a rate of one-twentieth.
All matters are handled by the tax bureau.
The tax bureau will conduct random inspections every month to verify the business performance of merchants. Anyone who dares to make false accounts to avoid paying taxes will, upon verification, be punished with a minimum penalty of 5,000 guilders and a maximum penalty of 100,000 guilders, depending on the severity of the situation.
At first, people didn't take it seriously, but when they learned that the Chengguan Brigade had sent a team of fifty people to station at the tax bureau, everyone knew that the county government was serious.
For a time, people talked a lot, and their reactions were different.
The people of Hu County were overjoyed, because according to Prince Consort Du's original promise, the people of Hu County did not need to pay taxes this year. That was a matter for outsiders.
Those merchants who can't make one or two dollars a month don't have to worry, they don't have to worry about taxes.
The big merchants began to worry.
Of course, some people jumped out to object, but unfortunately, they were arrested by the Guancheng Brigade before they could do anything. After entering the camp of the Guancheng Brigade, they came out. Regardless of whether they were dragons or tigers, they were all honest and even took the lead in paying the bill.
What about taxes?
…
The news reached Chang'an.
Naturally, it also caused a lot of discussion.
This can be said to be the beginning of the reform of the tax system in the Tang Dynasty.
Sikong Mansion.
Many people gathered here.
"Lord Changsun, I think back then, in order to win over us, Du He voluntarily sold all the shops and houses in Huxian County to us at low prices. We sent people from our families to buy shops and land, and started from there.
It is true that he made a lot of money from the beginning of doing business... Who would have thought that not long after, he encouraged Wei Shuyu to set up a tax bureau and started to collect taxes every month. It is really unreasonable. This is not a break.
Is there a way to make money?"
"Yes, Du He's behavior is really disgusting!"
"Master Changsun, you can't ignore this matter. As far as I know, the Changsun family does a lot of business in Hu County. If the tax bureau really starts collecting taxes every month, the Changsun family will suffer heavy losses!
"
Everyone was crying and asking Changsun Wuji to stand up and make the decision for everyone.