History of the world economy - Polyak GB

22.6. Financial system. Taxation

The financial situation of Russia and its tax system have undergone significant changes during the XIX century. Trends in general were positive.

The pre-reform period

At the beginning of the century, small private city banks began to appear . In 1812, the State Commercial Bank was established , whose tasks were to accept deposits for deposit at interest, transfer money, issue loans for goods. However, the monetary system of the country was not stable, the rate of the paper ruble fell, gold and silver money went out of circulation. The most important reason for this was the considerable expenditures of the state, which exceeded the income twice. To maintain the rate of paper assignations, the government began to levy taxes and arrears exactly with bank notes, with the help of bank notes, and all payments between private individuals were to be made. These measures were not effective enough, despite all the efforts of the Ministry of Finance (established in 1802).

In 1810, for the first time in Russia, a plan for a large- scale financial reform was developed , the main authors of which were M.M. Speransky, M.A. Balug'yanskiy and N.S. Mordvinov. The goals of the reform were the streamlining of the state budget and the stabilization of the ruble, as the reason for the plight of Russian finances was the scarcity of the state budget and uncontrolled money issue.

Accordingly, the method of solving this problem was to stop issuing banknotes and withdrawing them from circulation. Another element of the financial transformations was to create taxation, which implied an equitable distribution of taxes on all citizens in the state, including nobles, the abolition of poll tax and the accounting of profitability in determining the amount of tax. It was also supposed that the way of levying taxes should be cheap.

However, it soon became clear that the principle of income in the serfdom can not be introduced: it could only be extended to the merchant class, which was about 1% of the inhabitants of Russia. For most of the population, income was not a form that reflected economic activity. Attempts to tax landlords' houses and land that yielded income were also unsuccessful: the nobles showed a sharp discontent, the tax was abolished, M.M. Speransky was sent into exile.

Nevertheless, some of Speransky's ideas were returned under Nicholas I, when the Finance Ministry headed EF. Kankrin, who held this post in 1823-1844. More rigidly began to be carried out the regime of saving state funds, spending on the state apparatus, the maintenance of the court, and even the army and navy decreased. New indirect taxes were introduced - stamp duty, excises on tobacco, import customs duties went up. All this gave a good income to the budget, contributing to the elimination of its scarcity. The amount of direct taxes for the management of specific finances increased by 10 million rubles. Silver. Kankrin created a new form of internal state loan, issuing in 1831 in circulation the tickets of the State Treasury with a par value of 250 rubles. Bank notes, bringing their owners 4% per annum. In addition, in 1839, began the implementation of the monetary reform, known as the reform of Kankrin. In the course of it, new credit tickets were issued, freely exchanged for silver money, and old banknotes were withdrawn from circulation. The free exchange did not last long - until 1851, but on the whole the reform stabilized the monetary system of the country to a certain extent.

The post-reform period

The main changes in the financial sphere and taxation were carried out in the post-reform period.

In 1862, a budget reform was carried out, which resulted in a more detailed record of revenues and expenditures in the state budget, the establishment of a system of state control over the finances of agencies, including the review of financial estimates for the next year and the audit of annual reports on the performance of state Budget by this agency. In the 1960s, changes in taxation were also initiated. The replacement of wine purchases with excise on wine immediately increased the treasury's revenue.

In the 1980s, the Minister of Finance N.Kh. Bunge carried out tax reforms: the salt tax was abolished, the per capita tax was reduced, the state land tax was raised, the commercial and industrial taxation was increased, etc. The shares for sugar and tobacco, Customs duties, new indirect taxes (apartment, insurance, travel of passengers and cargo, excise taxes on matches, tobacco, sugar, etc.) were introduced. Incomes from indirect taxes grew faster than from direct taxes.

In 1895 - 1897 years. The largest monetary reform in the country's history (the reform of S. Yu. Bumme ) was conducted , as a result of which a free exchange of paper money for gold was introduced, and in the leading countries of the world - England, the USA, Germany and France. The law of 1895 allowed the conclusion of transactions for gold, all offices and offices of the State Bank, and then private banks were granted the right to buy gold coins and make payments by this coin. A fixed exchange rate of the ruble was set at 7 rubles. 40 kopecks. For a golden semi-imperial with a face value of 5 rubles. By 1897, by increasing taxes, mining and buying gold, and making external loans, the State Bank increased gold cash from 300 million to 1095 million rubles, which almost fully corresponded to the amount of circulation of credit cards. Stabilization of the ruble, its full convertibility, and budget-free deficit were achieved.

Imperial

Imperial (15 rubles.) 1897

Questions for repetition

1. What were the two trends in Russia's economic development leading in the nineteenth century?

2. How was the abolition of serfdom prepared, how was the reform of 1861 carried out, what results did it give?

3. Describe the development of industry in in the XIX century. What changes have occurred in its location and industry structure? What role did railroad construction play?

4. Tell us, what has changed in the forms of organization of internal trade and foreign trade policy of Russia in the XIX century?

5. What changes have been made in the financial, banking and monetary systems?