Agricultural Tax Research Articles

Taxation and entrepreneurship of migrant workers: evidence from China

PurposeMigrant workers play a vital role in the development of countries such as China. However, they often face greater barriers in entrepreneurship. Yet, few studies have focused on the effect of institutional factors on migrant workers' entrepreneurial behaviors. To address this gap, this study concentrates on the role of taxation.Design/methodology/approachThis study takes the agricultural tax abolition reform implemented in rural China since 2004 as an exogenous shock and uses the difference-in-difference (DID) method to examine its effect on migrant workers' entrepreneurship based on longitudinal data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS).FindingsWe find that the reform significantly improves the probability of migrant workers engaging in entrepreneurship. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the reform exerts a notably more pronounced positive impact on male, younger and migrant workers in the Western region. Further analysis reveals that the three main mechanisms are increased household income, female human capital accumulation and increased social capital, including social networks and social trust.Originality/valueThis study is first to offers an institutional perspective on the determinants of migrant workers' entrepreneurship in China. Additionally, the study can provide insights for policymaking intended to support employment and entrepreneurship among low-skill migrant workers.

Agricultural tax reform, capital investment, and structural transformation in China

Identifying the driving forces of structural transformation is crucial for understanding economic development. In the early 21st century, China experienced a rapid labor shift from agricultural to non-agricultural sectors. This shift is often attributed to the industrial sector’s “pull” force, while the agricultural sector’s “push” force remains less understood. This paper investigates the role of the Agricultural Tax Exemption (ATE) reform in promoting inter-sectoral labor reallocation in China, which ended over two millennia of agricultural taxation on farmers. Our results show that the introduction of the ATE reform contributed to a significant increase in the share of non-agricultural workers. Mechanism analysis reveals that this reform encouraged capital investment among farmers and improved agricultural productivity, consequently displacing surplus agricultural workers. Further analysis shows that the labor reallocation induced by the reform had significantly increased employment and output within the secondary sector, although its effect on the tertiary sector was relatively minimal.

Local government fiscal stress and regional entrepreneurship: Evidence from a natural experiment in China

Employing the abolition of the agricultural taxes in 2005 in China as a natural experiment, this paper investigates the impact of local government fiscal stress on regional entrepreneurship. We find that the reform results in increased fiscal expenditure and decreased new firm entry. This result suggests that local government fiscal stress is a significant hindrance to regional entrepreneurship, particularly in areas with low fiscal self-sufficiency, limited financial development, and weak legal systems. We also explore the mechanisms through which agricultural tax abolition affects entrepreneurial activities. Our findings indicate that four mechanisms are effective in influencing entrepreneurship, including enhanced tax collection and management, increased local debt, rising land prices, and heightened uncertainty perception by entrepreneurs. Overall, our research provides new insights into the relationship between local fiscal stress and economic development from the perspective of regional entrepreneurship.

Children and Youth Coerced Displacement: A History of Power Struggle between State and Provincial A‘yān’s Families

This article offers a new perspective on children and youth’s coerced displacement in the context of the Ottoman Middle East and highlights their potential as a social group to inform studies of children, kinship, and family vis-a-vis the state. Using iltizām contracts, I argue that the Ottoman state prioritized its stability and economic interests and turned a blind eye to promises it made to ensure the “well-being” of young Ottoman subjects. The contracts recorded around the mid-eighteenth century document an institutionalized practice by the state to remove and incarcerate young and minor males associated with the families of multazims, or tax farmers, who generally hailed from the class of provincial notables, or a‘yān, to persuade the latter to render payment of taxes. Although multazims appeared to be indifferent to the fate of their castaway children, evidence suggests that multazims took advantage of geopolitical changes toward the last quarter of the eighteenth century to avoid the incarceration of their children, as the practice completely disappeared at that time. This article also attempts to approach the question of whether this forced displacement of children represents a form of mobility, in comparison to other forms of children’s mobility, like the devširme, and explores what this meant for the expansion, or retraction, of the state power and its governing policies.

MEASURES OF STATE SUPPORT DURING THE FAMINE OF THE 1930S IN CENTRAL KAZAKHSTAN

In the article, the authors consider measures to provide state aid during the famine of the 1930s in the territory of Central Kazakhstan. The purpose of the article is to consider in the regional aspect the main measures taken in Central Kazakhstan as the main measures to eliminate the consequences of hunger and to provide food assistance to the starving population. Based on archival documents and collections of materials, the authors managed to identify that the state has worked out several ways to help the hungry in order to eliminate the consequences of hunger. First, it is the provision of food, industrial goods and loans to starving areas. Secondly, the issuance of permits for the maintenance of livestock in settled areas to restore livestock production, and thirdly, a reduction in the grain delivery plan, or exemption from it, as well as a reduction or exemption from the unified agricultural tax. Using the example of the Nurinsky district, the authors analyze the implementation of the main decisions of state authorities to eliminate the consequences of famine. The authors of the article conclude that despite the fact that the state handed over wheat, millet and other food support to the hungry, the assistance provided was not insufficient and was delayed. The authors, having studied materials of the archival fund of the Nurinsky district, identified a list of collective farms that received food aid in the form of grain, wheat and other crops, and came to the following conclusion. Firstly, the food aid provided by the state turned out to be late, since at the time of its arrival, famine reached its peak, farms fell into decline, the population died out, and the survivors were forced to migrate; secondly, the amount of aid provided by the state was insufficient to solve the food problem; thirdly, food aid was distributed not only without taking into account the size of farms, but also not for their intended purpose; fourthly, the state authorities failed to correct the current situation in the Kazakh villages.

Municipal rents in private hands: a comparative approach to the indirect collection of fiscal and judicial rights in medieval Loulé and Porto (late 14th - early 16th centuries)

By the second half of the 14th century, leasing municipal rents to private individuals (known as tax farming) was already prevailing in most Portuguese municipalities. In this paper, we will study this system of rent collection in two urban centers: Porto and Loulé, in the period between the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 16th century. In particular, we intend to determine the sociological profile of the tax farmers operating in those two urban contexts, as well as their relationship with local power and royal administration. Ultimately, we expect to identify dynamics of upward and downward social mobility linked to participation in this business, while verifying whether tax farming worked as a platform for social advancement or a consequence of already belonging to the ruling elite. In order to achieve these results, we will analyze the accounting books, and town council minutes available.

ВЗАИМОСВЯЗЬ НАЛОГООБЛОЖЕНИЯ И ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТИ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ СЕЛЬСКОЙ ТЕРРИТОРИИ, КАК СУБЪЕКТА ЭКОНОМИКИ

In recent years, attention has been increasing to various aspects of rural development that form the socio-economic sustainability of small settlements. The subjects of the rural economy make a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the village, and in fact it is agro-enterprises that act as a driver of rural development. The issues of taxation of agricultural enterprises are the most complex and at the same time the most "sensitive", however, insufficient attention is paid to these issues in the entire range of areas of sustainable rural development. Due to the fact that there is a direct relationship between the effectiveness of tax policy and the profitability of an economic entity, agricultural enterprises need to monitor the tax burden and control its level, while complying with the requirements of legislation regarding the regulation of taxation and labor relations. The article examines the problems faced by agricultural enterprises in connection with the constant reforms of the agricultural taxation system.

Uniform agricultural tax abolition and differential household labor supply: Evidence from China's urban household survey

Uniform government public policy has steadily shaped the labor supply from households in the past few decades in China with possible differential impact on each parent. This paper investigates how uniform tax policy change plays differential roles in household's labor supply through government public education spending. Utilizing the exogenous shock from China's agricultural tax abolition in 2005, we find that the abolition results in a reduction in female employment but an increase in male employment. Specifically, a 1% increase of agricultural tax to public revenue ratio in the reference year leads to a 0.485% labor supply reduction and 1.50 fewer hours of work per month for married women, whereas the married men's labor supply increases by 0.191% and their working hours by 1.06 h in a typical urban family with school-going children. The effects are greater on married women with primary school-age children and married men from high-asset households. Our mechanism analysis indicates that public education spending works as a substitute for private education spending and affects the household labor supply through investment in children's human capital. Our findings offer a new perspective on the decreasing female labor supply and the widening employment gap between (married) women and (married) men in the Chinese labor market. The findings suggest that public tax policy could lead to unintended consequences on household's labor supply decisions, and thus exacerbate the gender employment gap in the labor market.

Tax Farming, the Provincial Council and the Nature of the Late Ottoman State

Abstract This article focuses on the Council (Divan) of Amid in Diyarbekir Province as a petition-receiving institution throughout the eighteenth century. By drawing on the court records of the city of Harput, one of the sub-districts of Diyarbekir, and the tax farming registers of the larger province, the article discusses the role of the provincial governor in legal procedures. It argues that the Provincial Council had an important function in the operative field of law as it made it possible for the petitioning subjects in Harput to obtain judgments reviewed in the court of Harput in the form of ‘trial de novo’. While situating the emergence of the Council in the political-economic context of the time, the article also argues that the Provincial Council was an early modern institution which, in part, paved the way to the constitution of the nineteenth century provincial administration of the Tanzimat state.

Vigilance and tax fraud in early modern Catalonia

ABSTRACT This article uses the concept of ‘cultures of vigilance’ (vigilanzkulturen) as an analytical tool to shed light on how early modern Catalan citizens interacted with public institutions in relation to the fight against tax fraud. By studying the surveillance mechanisms used by fiscal authorities in both local and regional scenarios, the article shows how private individuals, guilds, tax farmers and public officials collaborated in partnership to create a system of vigilance in which everybody was surveilling and under surveillance using direct and indirect methods. For public officers and institutions to benefit from practices of vigilance, citizens had to be genuinely willing to collaborate, and the article thus points towards the existence of a deeply rooted symbiosis between citizens and the state in early modern Catalonia under the Spanish monarchy.

TAX POLICY OF THE SOVIET STATE DURING THE YEARS OF COLLECTIVIZATION OF AGRICULTURE IN UZBEKISTAN

The article describes the essence of the tax policy of the Soviet state and its consequences during the years of collectivization of agriculture in Uzbekistan in the 30s of the twentieth century. It reveals issues of taxation and the fight against it, conflicts in the agricultural sector, the consequences of the introduction of an agricultural tax in the country and the negative impact on the lifestyle of the population. The article analyzes the crisis of many kulak farms during the years of complete collectivization, as well as the essence of the repressive policy of the Soviet state against rich farms through taxes.

IMPLEMENTATION OF AGRICULTURAL TAX AMONG COLLECTIVE FARMERS OF THE URALS IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 1930S

The relevance of the study of agricultural taxation of the collective farm peasantry is due to the fact that at present there are still not enough scientific publications on this problem, which is important for historical, economic and legal sciences. It is necessary not only to analyze the legislation on agricultural tax, but also to reveal the nuances of its practical implementation among collective farmers. Experience of taxation in the 1930s. in such a large region as the Greater Urals will be of interest to scientists engaged in similar research in other areas of the country. The object of study is the Ural collective farmers, and partly, before the introduction of income tax in 1936, collective farms, and the subject is the legislation on agricultural tax and its impact on the real economic opportunities of collective farm households to ensure the normal existence of the family. The time frame of the study is determined by the second half of the 1930s, when collectivization was completed and most of the taxation fell on the collective farm peasantry. The purpose of the article is to use new sources and approaches to systematize the available material and identify the peculiarities of taxation of collective farmers in the Urals. The work used general scientific methods, as well as comparative, historical-genetic, statistical and others. The study showed that during the period of economic modernization, with the help of the agricultural tax, issues of strengthening the state budget were resolved, part of which was directed to the needs of the village. For collective farmers, in the conditions of constant growth not only in agricultural taxes, other payments and in-kind duties, they had to experience difficulties in the family budget. The restrictions of the Charter of the agricultural artel did not allow the personal farmstead to develop to its full potential. Attempts by collective farmers to devote more time to their farming and to expand crops were resolutely suppressed, especially in the late 1930s. Not all collective farmers could withstand the hardships of collective farm life with a low assessment of their work and high duties, so some of them left the collective farm, joining the number of individual farmers, state farm workers, and city workers.

The Complex Dynamics of Agricultural Taxation in Developing Countries - Insights from Indonesia

The agricultural sector in Indonesia holds significant importance in the nation's economy, contributing substantially to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while facing challenges in tax revenue collection due to the predominance of micro and small-scale players. This paper examines the unique tax approaches in the agricultural sector, considering the complexities of taxation in developing countries. Through a comprehensive literature review, the study explores four key factors influencing tax compliance: economic factors, non-economic factors, tax administration, and perceptions of tax complexity. The research framework incorporates insights from various scholarly sources, including Scopus and Google Scholar, to provide a holistic understanding of agricultural taxation dynamics. The review reveals a nuanced landscape where taxation policies impact market dynamics, welfare outcomes, and historical trends in the agricultural sector. The synthesis highlights the importance of balancing efficiency and equity in tax systems, considering the specific needs of agricultural producers. Furthermore, the study underscores the significance of tax knowledge, effective tax administration, and clear communication in fostering voluntary compliance among farmers. Moreover, the analysis delves into the complexity of tax design, emphasizing the interplay between tax rates, emissions, investment, and perceptions of fairness. The paper identifies opportunities for future research, including exploring regional variations in tax knowledge impact, assessing the effectiveness of tax audit approaches, and examining innovative tax management tools for agricultural enterprises. Overall, the study contributes to understanding agricultural taxation dynamics and provides insights for policymakers seeking to optimize tax policies in developing countries.

Peculiarities of legal regulation of the tax system of local self-government bodies in the Republic of Poland

The article is devoted to the analysis of the peculiarities of the legal regulation of the tax system of local self-government bodies in the Republic of Poland.
 It is shown that the modern system of local taxes began to form in the 90s of the last century, together with the restoration of the institution of local self-government. Despite the constitutional enshrinement of the right of all local self-government bodies to determine the amount of local taxes, ordinary legislation grants tax powers exclusively to the lowest link in the three-level system - the commune. Financing of the functions and powers of local self-government bodies of voivodships and poviats takes place through deductions from national taxes and fees. The author focuses on the existence of a distinction between the terms "local taxes” and "taxes of local self-government bodies” in the Polish doctrine of tax law. Local taxes are taxes that, by virtue of the law, are a permanent, indefinite and exclusive source of income for local budgets. Meanwhile, taxes of local self-government bodies are payments in respect of which local self­government bodies have tax powers. In light of the accepted criteria, for example, inheritance and gift tax is a local tax, but cannot be called a tax of local governments. Funds from this tax are fully credited to the budget of the territorial community, but local self-government bodies do not have tax authority over it. The list of local taxes is contained in the Law "On Local Taxes and Fees”. However, in reality, this list is incomplete and does not include a number of local taxes that are regulated by other legislative acts. In general, the list of local taxes is quite voluminous, in which only real estate tax, vehicle tax, forest tax and agricultural tax belong to the taxes of local self-government bodies. They meet the formal and material criteria that characterize the "own income” of local self-government units, while others only meet the formal criteria.

The Management of Agricultural Taxes in the Valley of Arad as Reflected by Arad Ostraca

Although research of the Arad Ostraca often focuses on the victuals supplied to military squads passing through the fortress, where these products originate from is rarely asked. This study examines the Arad Ostraca for evidence of agricultural products raised as taxes from the inhabitants of the Beer Sheva-Arad Valley. It aims to enhance our understanding of how the agricultural tax collection system was used to supply the army with victuals. Seven ostraca exemplify the collection and administration system of tax-in-kind in the valley. This conclusion arises from the registration of large quantities of unprocessed agricultural products in these ostraca and their connection to clans or even towns in the area.

Development of the methodology of taxation of agricultural enterprises in the context of digitalization

According to the norms of Russian legislation taxpayers by default fall under the general system of taxation. Developing financial and economic activities, enterprises, including agricultural enterprises can apply different tax regimes: the transition, for example, to a simplified taxation system, unified agricultural tax, patent system, etc., is carried out at the initiative of the payer, i.e. is of notification nature. Since for the business owner the decisive moment is the total tax payments (tax burden), the issues of its optimization are of particular relevance. In the course of work we analyzed and systematized the norms of tax legislation of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan, processed data on taxes and fees posted on the official website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia, using the economic and statistical method. The result of the research is the choice of optimal tax burden for agricultural enterprises of small business including the use of information technologies in order to increase the efficiency of their activities.

ПРАВОВЕ ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ ДЕРЖАВНОЇ ПІДТРИМКИ ПТАХІВНИЦТВА В УКРАЇНІ: ІСТОРИЧНІ АСПЕКТИ ТА СУЧАСНИЙ СТАН

The purpose of the article is to study the historical aspects and analyse the current state of legalsupport for poultry farming in Ukraine.Methods. The research methodology consists of general and special methods of scientificknowledge, including historical and legal, comparative and legal, systemic and structural,analysis, synthesis and others, which allow for a consistent approach to the disclosure of the goal,to study and compare the positions of scientists, and the provisions of the legal acts of Ukraineregulating state support for poultry farming in our country.Results. The article shows that after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economic crisis,the poultry industry has significantly declined, which has led to a reduction in the number ofpoultry and a decrease in the production of eggs and poultry meat. At the same time, most of thepoultry enterprises of the former collective and state farms became unprofitable, leading to theirbankruptcy.It is noted that the beginning of the recovery of the poultry industry was the reform of collectiveagricultural enterprises and the creation of private enterprises on their basis, as well as theintroduction of budgetary programmes to support domestic agricultural producers and the use ofpreferential taxation in the field of agriculture.The author notes that the programme of financial support for agricultural enterprises through themechanism of cheaper loans, which provided funds from the state budget to partially compensatethe interest rate on loans taken by agricultural enterprises from banks for the purchase of poultry,eggs for hatching, feed, spare parts for the repair of agricultural machinery and equipment, etc.,was of great importance for the development of poultry farming.It is argued that a significant upgrade of the material and technical base of poultry enterpriseswas facilitated by the budget programme for partial compensation in the amount of 30 per cent ofthe cost of complex domestic agricultural machinery purchased by them. It is proved that the poultry enterprises enjoying a preferential taxation regime in the form ofpayment of a fixed agricultural tax and the introduction of a special taxation regime for thepayment of value added tax stimulated the development of the poultry industry as a whole.It is established that today, poultry enterprises are deprived of any support due to the lack offunding for government budget programmes and the cancellation of preferential taxation, whichhas negatively affected the development of poultry farming.Conclusions. Proposals for the restoration of the poultry industry have been formulated, whichwill contribute to the development and competitiveness of this industry and which could beenshrined in the draft New Agricultural Policy, which is part of the Recovery Plan of Ukraine.

AGRICULTURAL TAXATION OF URAL INDIVIDUAL FARMERS AT THE FINAL STAGE OF COLLECTIVIZATION

The problem of taxation of peasants during the years of collectivization still remains relevant for researchers. Scientists in the field of historical, economic and legal sciences turn to the study of certain aspects of the tax policy of the Soviet government in the 1930s. However, there is still not enough research on this problem covering the largest regions of the country, such as the Greater Urals. The conclusions obtained as a result of the study allow us to identify the peculiarities of taxation of the Ural peasantry. The author continued a series of articles devoted to the implementation of the agricultural tax in the Urals, but within new administrative-territorial boundaries from 1934 to the early 1940s. The purpose of studying the problem is to identify, on the basis of historical and legal analysis, the features of the implementation of tax legislation in the Urals. The object of study was the individual peasantry. The use of both general scientific and historical methods (comparative, statistical, historical-genetic and others) made it possible to solve the problems. The scientific novelty of the research was manifested in the use of new documentary material, the development of a dynamic table, and the systematization of data from various sources. The analysis confirmed the hypothesis about non-economic methods of influencing the farms of individual farmers, which in the pre-war years led to their virtual disappearance from the economic life of the village. The agricultural tax, coupled with other cash payments and natural food compulsory deliveries, forced individual farmers to join a collective farm or migrate to the city, move to state farms and other production structures.

Farming out judicial offices in the Ottoman Empire, c. 1750–1839

AbstractThis article focuses on the widespread practice of appointing deputy judges, called naibs, in the Ottoman Empire from the mid-eighteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. Based on extensive archival research, it analyses how the judiciary turned into a system of allocating revenue sources. An increasing number of offices of kadı (judge) were assigned as a source of income to higher-ranking ulema, who, through intermediaries, in turn farmed out their judicial offices to naibs in return for a fixed sum of money. Importantly, the apportionment fees for taxes collected from local taxpayers constituted a significant part of naibs’ incomes. The practice of deputizing in the Ottoman judiciary thus shows a close parallel with tax farming. Because the naibs transferred their revenues to the higher-ranking ulema, farming out judicial offices became a major economic basis for maintaining the Ottoman ulema hierarchy.

Taxation and Tax Farming in the Egibi Archive

Abstract The Egibi archive contains a group of texts concerning the tax farming activities of Marduk-nāṣir-apli, son of Itti-Marduk-balāṭu, the head of the Egibi family in the third generation (521–487 BCE). This group of texts includes documents that refer to various taxes, such as ilku and qaštu, mostly in the form of receipts, as well as a dossier of a rab hanše, Bēl-erība, son of Kalbāya, descendant of Šumu-libši, who was closely involved in the collection of ilku. A detailed analysis and contextualization of these texts reveal the ilku taxation processes, and the roles of the rab hanšê Bēl-erība and the tax farmer Marduk-nāṣir-apli in these processes. These texts also add more evidence for the taxation on the military fiefs and qaštu-tax in Babylon.