Expert board:

• Scientific Council of RAS on economic history;
• Research and Educational Center «The economic history of Central Russia and the Middle Volga region» of Ogarev Mordovia State University;
• Center of Economic History of  Lomonosov Moscow State University

Certificate of registration

Oleg I. Mariskin

National Research Ogarev Mordovia State University (Saransk, Russia),

e-mail: mariskinoi@mail.ru

 

Direct and Indirect Taxes on Trade and Industry Russia in the Second Half of the 19th – early 20th centuries

 

Abstract

Introduction. The article examines the transformation of the tax system of commercial and industrial entrepreneurship in Russia in the post-reform period. The main attention is paid to the analysis of the fishing tax, the collection of land tax from trade and crafts, changes in the indirect taxation system (excise taxes and wine monopoly).

Results and Discussion. By the beginning of the 20th century, the fishing tax was a rather complex system. The elements of the former organization of commercial taxation were intertwined with such new elements of taxation as a mandatory declaration for some payers, the desire to tax on actual profits. In the post-reform period in Russia, the main types of taxation were excise taxes and the wine monopoly. Brewing, yeast, vodka, distillery, sand-sugar, refining, vinegar, match, tobacco and petroleum-kerosene industrial establishments fell under this type of taxation. In fiscal terms, the most significant interests for the state were the distillery, sugar and tobacco industries.

Conclusion. At the beginning of the 20th century the tax burden was shifted from the peasantry to the commercial, industrial and urban population, as well as to property facilities. At the same time, the widespread use of indirect taxes had negative consequences: it increased the tax burden on entrepreneurs, reduced the purchasing power of the population and narrowed the sales market.

Keywords: commercial and industrial activity, commercial tax, indirect taxes, excise taxes, duties, zemstvo fees.

For citation: Mariskin O. I. Direct and Indirect Taxes on Trade and Industry Russia in the Second Half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. Economicheskaya istoriya = Russian Journal of Economic History. 2025; 21(1): 55-62. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.24412/2409-630X.068.021.202501.055-062.

 

Download article in PDF