As our Fatherland was born and strengthened, various taxes increased. There have always been many sharp questions and categorical answers in this difficult matter. The authorities have always sought to take more, and people, accordingly, to give less. The former introduced new taxes, the latter looked for ways to circumvent them.
How to streamline robbery and make it legal: a recipe from the Varangians
The very first mention of taxes in Russia is contained in the Laurentian Chronicle: “The Varangians from across the sea levied tribute from the Chud, and from the Slavs, and from the Mary, and from the Krivichi. And the Khazars took tribute from the meadows, and from the northerners, and from the Vyatichi, squirrel from the smoke. Slavic and not only tribes at war with each other were a convenient "cash cow" for overseas guests, including the Varangians. At first, they visited "on the way to the Greeks", and then decided to stay here. The Varangians quickly realized: if you continue to allow, whoever is not too lazy to rob the local tribes, then there will be no left for yourself.
With the creation of the state, the princes needed to build defensive fortifications, prepare new campaigns, but the main thing in this matter was to protect the population from others who wanted to come to Russia and profit.
Most often, to collect tribute, the princes used the form known to them - “polyudye”. It was a winter (from November to April) detour by the prince with a squad of subject lands during which tribute was collected and the squad was fed. The Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus described this “ritual” as follows: “When November comes, ... the princes leave Kyiv with all the dews and go on a polyudye, that is, a circular detour, namely, to the Slavic lands of the Drevlyans, Dregovichi, Krivichi, Northerners and other Slavs paying tribute to the dews. Feeding there, in April, when the ice on the Dnieper melts, they return to Kyiv, collect and equip their ships and go to Byzantium. The population was quite loyal to this, especially those tribes that voluntarily allowed Oleg and his squad to visit them.
The uncertainty of the amount of tribute and the excessive requests of the prince and the squad could cause a negative reaction from the tributaries, and it must be said that Oleg "kept" himself in hand. But here Igor retreated from this unspoken rule, for which he paid the price. Outraged by the immoderation of Rurikovich, the Drevlyans killed the prince.
The widow of the deceased Olga, of course, punished the Drevlyans, but the death of the prince was an important signal: the uncertainty of the amount of tribute and the disorder of the collection system could again lead to serious discontent. In 946, Olga carried out the first tax reform in Russian history - she introduced lessons (the amount of tribute collected) and graveyards (places of tribute collection).
A little later, special representatives of the prince appeared in the Old Russian state, who monitored the collection of taxes and levied fines. Russkaya Pravda has already clearly fixed the amount of the collection in favor of local officials. Virnik received in his favor seven buckets of malt, a lamb carcass (for a week), two chickens a day, cheese on fast days, daily bread and millet as needed. Also, people were required to feed up to four horses of the "official". So, even in Ancient Russia, the maintenance of an official becomes one of the forms of tax that does not go to the treasury, but goes directly to the official.
Over time, extraordinary and indirect taxes are added to the permanent taxes/tributes. These are "gifts" and "bows", which were irregular and were collected on the occasion of any events in the prince's family. As Russia is drawn into civil strife in the principalities, a “farming off” is spreading - a kind of indemnity from a city besieged or captured by a hostile prince. The forerunner of indirect taxes in the modern sense was the fees levied on various transactions or actions. These taxes were paid only by those who participated in the transaction or in the litigation.
Most were trade duties. The oldest duty associated with trade, apparently, was the wash, which is mentioned already in 907. Then there are fees for the transport of goods, the use of barns, weighing, measuring, gluing labels and applying seals. Moreover, each time the local authorities came up with more and more requisitions, which reached their maximum fractionality in the 15th-16th centuries.
With the adoption of Christianity, the introduction of church tithes is associated, the symbol of which was the Church of the Tithes built by Vladimir in Kyiv. Now the church received a tenth of all taxes - tribute, judicial and other duties, vir and other fees from the population. Unlike Western Europe, in Russia tithing was centralized, that is, a person simply paid taxes, a tenth of which was necessarily transferred to the church.
By the 13th century, most of the taxes already remained in the regions / princely destinies, and only an insignificant part of them went to Kyiv. The fragmentation of the tax system in the narrowly selfish interests of the specific princes, who thought only of themselves and sometimes of the grand prince's throne, eventually led to the weakening of the unified ancient Russian state and its disintegration.
You do not pay your own, you will pay someone else's
The Mongol invasion significantly changed the fiscal system in Russia. The specific principalities turned into the main tributaries of the Golden Horde.
Interested in the regular receipt of taxes, the Mongols are reforming and for the first time in the history of Russia, they conduct population censuses. Despite the fact that the first attempt was unsuccessful (1253), in 1257 the Horde "counted" the population of the Vladimir-Suzdal, Ryazan and Murom lands, and in 1259 and Novgorod. These were multi-level censuses - economic, household and military. For the conquerors, it was not so much the population that was important, but the number of soldiers that this or that territory could field.
At first, the Golden Horde khans used the farming system, demanding a tenth of all income, and the tax-farmers were rich merchants from eastern countries - Armenians, Jews, Khazars, Bukharans, Khivans, Arabs. The arbitrariness of tax-farmers often became the reason for protests. The largest uprising broke out in 1262, engulfing the entire Vladimir-Suzdal land: people could no longer tolerate "... violence from the filthy", convened a veche, drove out the "besermen" who paid off the tribute collection. After discontent and numerous uprisings, the khans entrusted the collection of tribute to the Russian princes. Now the princes themselves had to collect the “Horde exit”, and for supervision, Baskaks were sent to Russia, who not only collect, as we usually think, but make sure that everything is collected and sent to the Horde to the last.
The census of 1273 was the last. From the 14th century, the eldest of the Russian princes had to supply a “way out”, hence the label for reigning became at the same time the right to collect taxes in favor of the Khan of the Horde. The unfolding rivalry between the princes of Moscow and Tver shows how profitable it was to collect taxes. The winner in the struggle for the label was the Moscow prince, who until the end of the 15th century was the main tax collector in Russia.
The basic unit of taxation is now becoming "sokha". "Sokha" was considered 3-4 people without a horse or two workers and 3 horses. One "plow" was the farm of a tanner with one vat, or a forge with one master.
Since the 14th century, princes have preferred to collect taxes in cash. The majority of the population was subject to tribute, with the exception of the boyars, the clergy and complete lackeys. In addition to general taxation, indirect taxes increase at this time. The khans introduce a special duty on trade - tamga (from "tamg" a brand or seal), in addition, more osmice was charged from trade transactions, "water wash" was taken from ships, and "dry wash" was taken for the transportation of goods by land. The complication and increase in the number of taxes was a natural result of the Horde yoke.
They collected the exit, but did not forget about themselves
Having gained control over cash flows to the Horde, the Moscow princes did not forget about their loved ones either. In addition to paying tribute to the Golden Horde and supporting their families, the Moscow princes allocate special taxes, the proceeds of which were spent on the specific needs of the state - the organization of troops, the construction of fortresses, roads, the delivery of government goods, etc.
The frequent lack of money is compensated by natural duties - labor, horse-drawn, pit, although over time some of these duties are converted into cash. So, if before the peasants or townspeople had to "stand in the pit", i.e. to be with their horses at the stations of large roads, then in the 16th century “pit money” appeared, which went to the maintenance of coachmen, whose duty was the service of transporting state goods and officials. But no one was going to refuse duties, so people continued to harvest wood for the needs of the court, “feed” the troops, supply horses, and mow hay for the sovereign’s horses.
In the XIV-XV centuries, the "tenth" is taken in kind (bread or fish). The main source of income for the church is the duties of the peasants on church lands. Only by the 16th century was it possible to limit the growth of church, primarily monastic estates.
The expansion and complication of the management system led to the need to maintain numerous princely officials, first of all, governors and volosts. Instead of a salary, the governors received "food". This is how the "feeding" system arose, which lasted until. Receiving good incomes, robbing the population, the governors could exist quite comfortably, which, on the one hand, increased their desire to curry favor and not lose their position, and on the other hand, their desire to cash in on the entrusted territory.
***
The tax system during the period of the Horde conquest becomes more complicated. In Russia, several centers of power are being formed, which compete with each other for the right to collect taxes in favor of the khan. It was during this period that tax collection became the most important symbol of power. The victory of the Moscow princes in the struggle for the right to collect tribute led to the rise of the Moscow principality, which eventually becomes the center for collecting taxes and ... Russian lands. As they say, power is not the one who pays, but the one who collects.
STATE INCOME IN ANCIENT RUSSIA, the income of princes and warriors were of two kinds: the first included income received by the prince and his warriors from tribes that were temporarily inferior only to the strength of the Russian prince, but did not yet recognize his permanent power; the second kind included income from the tribes that already constituted the possessions of the Russian prince, recognized his supreme power and called him their sovereign. The tribes that did not recognize the power of the prince belonged under Oleg to the Drevlyans, Croats, Dulebs, Tivertsy, Radimichi, and at the beginning of his reign, the northerners. Under Igor, the Drevlyans, Radimichi, Croats and Tivertsy continued to be in the same relationship with the Russian prince, and the streets again entered, and under Svyatoslav and Vladimir, the Vyatichi. About this collection of tribute, we have, in addition to chronicle news, the testimony of Greek writers.
The income of the princes and their combatants from the completely conquered tribes consisted, in addition to tribute, in court duties, vira, dues and the use of various lands and crafts. The tribute itself from such tribes was not collected by force, but was already determined by the princes themselves by mutual agreement with the tributaries. So, about the tribute paid by the Slavs of Ilmen, Krivichi, Merya and Novgorodians, the chronicle says: “And set (Oleg) tribute to the Slovenes, Krivichi and Mary; and charge the Varangians a tribute of 300 hryvnias from Novgorod for the summer” (Lavr. coll., p. 11). Or, following the complete conquest of the Drevlyane land by Olga, the chronicler says: “And Volga went along the Trees of the earth with her son and with her squad, setting charters and lessons”; or: “Ide Volga to Novgorod and set graveyards and tributes along Msta, and dues and tributes along the Luga; her catches are all over the earth, signs and places and graveyards, and over the Dnieper and along the Desna, and there is the village of Olzhichi and hitherto.
The sources of princely income received from the conquered tribes were:
1) a tribute, which differed from the tribute from the tribes of the defeated, but unconquered, in that it was defined and otherwise called a lesson, as it is said about Olga after the conquest of the Drevlyan land: “I go along the Trees of the earth, setting charters and lessons.” To collect such a tribute, not a governor with regiments was sent, but officials called tribute-payers, and sometimes this tribute was delivered directly from the cities themselves to the prince or his governor;
2) polyudie; this was the name given to the gifts given to the prince during his tours of the volost for trial and reprisal; this tax was universal;
3) court fees. These duties were levied on each court case and went to the prince's treasury. For the administration of the court, the prince either traveled to the regions himself, or sent vigilantes, or kept tiuns in the cities and volosts. In addition to this fee, a fee was levied for the tyun and his attendants;
4) sales and sales. Virs were called monetary penalties from criminals, murderers, robbers and thieves, with the exception of the part that went to satisfy the offended. This source of income has appeared since the time of Igor. The murderer, according to the then laws, was subjected to the revenge of the relatives of the murdered, and his estate went to the prince in payment of vira, that is, a penalty for the murder. In certain cases, the volost or verv to which the murderer belonged participated in the payment of the vira. Such a vira was called wild. Thieves and robbers, in addition to monetary penalties, paid for any injury to the prince's treasury - sale. Vira is not yet mentioned in the contract of Prince. Oleg with the Greeks, but under Igor and Svyatoslav, viral income already had a definite purpose; they gathered for the maintenance of horses and weapons for the army, of course the princely, that is, the squad. “Ozhe vira, then wakes up for friends and horses,” says the chronicle;
5) dues. This was the name given to taxes (see: quitrent tax), paid from lands that were the property of the prince or ceded to him by the zemstvo. So, in the annals it is said about Olga that she established along the river. Luga dues;
6) various lands that belonged to the prince: fishing, trapping animals, hanging grounds, side lands, etc. All these lands are mentioned in the annals when describing Olga's campaign from Novgorod to Kyiv (Lavr. sp., p. 11). The prince had storage places in cities and villages, where collections from the princely lands were stored. So, during the siege of Belgorod, mention is made of a princely medusha, where honey was collected from the princely boards;
7) trade. The princes took an active part in it, sending their goods to Greece, Khozaria, Kama and Danube Bulgaria, probably to Western Europe through the Baltic Sea. Svyatoslav himself said that furs, copper and wax, and slaves come to Danube Bulgaria from Russia (Lavr. coll., p. 33). The Russian princes were rich in this commodity, because it was a tribute levied from subject tribes. The fact that the princes traded, we have direct indications in the contract of Prince. Oleg with the Greeks and the treaty of Prince. Igor with the Greeks. Igor's contract says: "Let the Grand Duke and his boyars send ships to the Greeks as much as they want, with ambassadors and guests." And with the "guests" the ships, of course, were sent for trade, because at that time it was the merchants who were sent with goods to foreign lands that were called "guests". Over the following time, we have evidence that the princes were among the most important merchants; they even had a privilege: let, it was said, first the princely merchants be terminated, and then others could trade.
The source of income for the combatants was, firstly, the management of various cities, which were entrusted to them from the prince. The income from administration was directly called subsequently the governor's income, or feeding, and consisted of natural duties delivered to the governor at certain times.
The second source of income was shipping fees; they were received by combatants from court cases in those areas to which they were sent by the prince for court and justice. In general, any sending of a combatant to any region was connected with the income legalized for him. This income is called in Yaroslav's Russkaya Pravda a "lesson". In this legislative monument we find statutory letters on the lessons of the virnik, the bridgeman and the city manager.
The third source was spoils of war, trade and the collection of tribute from the conquered peoples. Vigilantes participated in trade in the same way as the princes. We have already seen this in Igor's agreement with the Greeks, where it is said that the prince and the boyars could send ships with goods to Greece (Lavr. coll., p. 24). In addition, the warriors received from the prince a salary in silver or goods.
The fourth source is estates. At first, the combatants used this source of income to a small extent, which was determined by the very nature of the life of the combatants, who at that time was semi-nomadic. On the other hand, the very number of estates was at that time still very small. We find evidence of the distribution of estates under Vladimir in the Icelandic sagas (Olav Trygvesson).
After the adoption of Christianity, the income of the princes was still divided into income from tribes that were inferior in strength, but not yet completely conquered and did not constitute the Russian state, and income from tribes that were completely conquered and became part of the Russian state, i.e., accepted Russian control and fully obeyed all the requirements and laws of the Russian government. The first kind of income consisted of tribute, which the Russian princes themselves or their warriors went for. Such tribes were Lithuanians, Yotvingians and some of the Finnish tribes who lived beyond the Northern Dvina and Pechora and further to the Urals. From these tribes, the Russians usually collected tribute by armed force, sent military detachments there, or built garrisons there, or, according to the then expression, ambushes, which from time to time left the towns to collect tribute, or the tribute payers themselves brought tribute to the towns. Such a collection of tribute later became known as yasak. The collection of tribute by force is often mentioned in chronicles; so, under 1187 in the Novgorod Chronicle it is said: “At the same time, the Pechersk tributaries and Ugrsky tributaries were beaten in Pechera, and the friends behind Volok, and the heads fell about hundreds of deaths.” Under 1071, the chronicle mentions Jan Vyshatich, who went with a retinue to the Belozersky region to collect tribute to Svyatoslav. The chronicles testify that the Polotsk princes went to Lithuania for tribute, and the Volyn princes went to the Yotvingians.
The second kind of income was collected by the inhabitants of the regions that made up the Russian state, and was divided into several types, which were not always the same for different principalities that were part of the then Russia. Quite detailed information about the types of taxes is provided by the charter of Rostislav Mstislavich Smolensky, written in 1150. From it we see that:
1) some of these incomes were certain, already calculated in advance, how much income is collected from which area, while others were uncertain, depending on the case, for example. living room, transportation, trade, tavern and washing, for, of course, the prince determined how much to take from the return duties or how much the guest of the living room should pay tribute, but the prince, naturally, could not know in advance how many wagons would come, from which to take washing and transportation, and how many guests paying living room;
2) in the collection of income, order and certainty were observed, which made it possible to know in advance how much of what income this or that area brings. So, in the charter it is said: “At Verzhavleneh at the great 9 graveyards, and in those graveyards to pay, whoever has his tribute and peredmer and the maidens according to their strength, who can do what, and in those graveyards and some die, then you and the tithes will decrease, and in those graveyards, tributes of 800 hryvnias converge in all, and a hundred hryvnias are given in front, and a hundred hryvnias on the women; then take from that to the bishop, to the Holy Mother of God 100 hryvnias. And in Hotishna the tribute is 200 hryvnias; from that bishop take 20 hryvnias; in Patsin tribute 30 hryvnia; and from that to the bishop three hryvnias, and in the hosts of tribute it is not known what will come down, from that to the Holy Mother of God and the bishop a tithe. In Dedich, both tribute and vira are 15 hryvnias, the guest is seven hryvnias, and from that to the Holy Mother of God and the bishop three hryvnias without seven legs. There are four hryvnias on Kopys, and four hryvnias on the transport, and four hryvnias on the merchant, and the helmsman knows what will come down. In Luchin, polyudya is four hryvnias, and the helmsman is unknown, but what he will take down is a tithe from that bishop. This certainty and accuracy in the collection of income clearly indicates that the princely income was not accidental and arbitrary, but was established and approved by law and carried out in accordance with certain rules, indicating the degree of improvement in which the then society was;
3) at that time, three forms of income collection were used: the first form was that income was collected directly by the servants of the prince - tribute-payers, collectors, etc.; the second form consisted in giving at the mercy of some income item - the government directly received the price established at the auction and then gave it to the payer at the full disposal of some income item; the third form consisted in the fact that the government turned over some item of income, that is, it entered into conditions with the community and appointed how much the quitrent should be paid in a certain period - sometimes even several years in advance, and the community itself laid out this quitrent between its members and itself collected it;
4) at the time we are considering, the government followed various forms of collection and changed them according to circumstances. So, for example, from the letter of Rostislav, we see that in Dedichy the living room duty was determined at seven hryvnias, therefore, it was given for quitrent, but in Patsin it was not determined at all, therefore, here the government took it itself;
5) taxes were levied, according to the testimony of the Rostislav charter, not from all payers equally, but depending on the property of each, therefore, then taxes were levied not from a person, but from capital or income, or, as they put it then, “on the stomachs and trades”. So, in the charter it is said: "And in those graveyards someone pays his tribute according to his strength, who can do what." This new system of collection of taxes is fundamentally very different from the system of collection when tribute was paid from the court or from the smoke. This shows that Russian society has achieved significant success in its development and, of course, one cannot but suspect the strong influence of the Church in this. The tax system, based on the collection of interest on capital or income, shows that incomes were then made known, therefore, then there was a cadastre, otherwise the government could not determine in advance the amount of its income. And we are really in the XIII and XIV centuries. we will meet many clear indications of the cadastre of property and crafts in Russian society, and from the 15th and 16th centuries many official books of the then cadastre have come down to us; of course, neither in the XIII, nor in the XIV, nor even in the XV century. this system of social organization could not have been formed and developed in Russia, because at that time Russia was under the yoke of nomads - the Tatars, therefore, the beginning of this system should be sought precisely in the 11th and 12th centuries, when many Russian principalities flourished, with which the cited above the evidence of the Rostislav statutory charter. We also find chronicle evidence of the description of private property in the Galician possessions in 1241, and the chronicle mentions a certain amount of income from the regions in the Kyiv possessions under 1195, where Roman Mstislavich Volynsky says to the Kyiv prince. Rurik: “And give me any other volost to that place, give it to me with kunami for it, whatever it was”;
6) finally, in the Rostislav letter we find an indication that taxes were not the same in all areas; in some areas one tax was collected, in others another tax, from some regions one type, from others several types of taxes. Having considered the general system of princely income, we will now proceed to consider and explain each type of income separately and divide the types into those categories to which this or that type belongs in essence and according to sources.
Categories and types of income. The categories into which revenues were divided were of three types: judicial, commercial, and actually taxable. The first category included: 1) viry, 2) sales, 3) judicial lessons, 4) gossip, 5) company lessons, 6) iron.
1. Vira was a payment to the princely treasury, exacted for the murder of a person. The price of vira in Russkaya Pravda was set at 80 hryvnia, and for a lyudin and for a junior combatant (see: Younger squad) - 40 hryvnia kunas, or 10 hryvnias of silver; the same amount of 40 hryvnia and 80 hryvnia kunas was also established in the contractual deed of Mstislav Davidovich Smolensky with Riga and Gotland. Vira was paid either by the killer himself, when he killed in a robbery or when he was not a contributor to the wild vira, or by the community, this was called wild vira when the killer was unknown or when the murder was committed during a quarrel or obviously at a feast. In addition, there was a half-wire when someone would cut off an arm or leg or gouge out an eye. Vira was sometimes given as quitrent; so, in the Rostislav charter it is said: “In Dedich, tribute and vira are 15 hryvnias.”
2. A sale was a penalty for personal insult or for violation of property rights. The payment for the sale was different, depending on the crime, but did not exceed 12 hryvnia kunas. In other cases, it was paid by the guilty themselves, in others by society; but whether the sale was given in the same way as the vir, for quitrent - this is not known.
3. Judicial lessons were collected from the court of both civil and criminal cases. According to the law of Russian Truth, court lessons were determined at 9 kunas from vira, 30 kunas from beet and rolled land, and in all other litigations - 4 kunas each: “And here are the freaks of the court; 9 kunas from vira, and 30 kunas from the side of the earth, and 4 kunas from others from all litigations. From this article of Russkaya Pravda it is clear that the side that won the case paid the court fees: “who will be helped,” the article says; but did this indicate a payment of 4 kunas from any litigation, or 30 kunas from the role land, or 9 kunas from the vira interest from the hryvnia or full payment, no matter what the price of the litigation, i.e., was it paid from each litigation case, at whatever price it may be, only 4 kunas - Russkaya Pravda does not provide any explanation for all this.
However, it seems to be correct to assume that here the law speaks of interest from the litigious hryvnia; at least later, court fees were a percentage of the amount at which the litigation was estimated.
4. Gossip. By this name, probably, the duty was meant in the production of a secondary court in the same case; so, at least, this legal term was understood subsequently.
5. Company lessons were levied on the prince when taking an oath or a company, that is, when someone cleared his lawsuit with an oath. Under the name of company lessons in antiquity, serf duties paid on the purchase and sale of real estate were also known. This lesson was called a company lesson because the seller took an oath (company) before the court that he was selling the estate for such and such a price. The consolidation consisted in writing down the company lesson in court, which the seller paid in accordance with the amount he took for the sold estate. In Russkaya Pravda, these lessons are defined as follows: “And these are the lessons of rotnia: from the head (when buying a slave) 30 kunas, and from the onboard land 30 kunas without three, also from the role land, and from freedom (slave) 9 kunas.”
6. Iron. An iron payment to the princely treasury was called, which was given by the plaintiff or the defendant, depending on who demanded the decision of the lawsuit by testing with hot iron. In Russkaya Pravda, this payment is defined as follows: “And pay 40 kunas for the iron man, 5 kunas for the swordsman, and half a hryvnia for the children; then you have an iron lesson, who knows what in what. It is probable that the same lesson was paid in the trial by water and in court fights, or in fights in the field.
1. Living room - this was the name of the duty levied on guests, that is, merchants who came to trade from other cities or lands. She could, as we have already seen, be farmed out, rented, or collected by servants of the government. According to the Vsevolodova charter, a duty was levied for storing living goods on the trading floor, where, of course, there were special barns for this. The charter says: “And Petryanin’s buoy is a courtyard from the former doors of St. John to the cellar, and from the cellar to the Konchansky bridge, and from that buoy, imati kuna to the headman of Ivanovsky and along Berezhany. And put those kun in the house of St. John the Great. According to the latest monuments, the living room duty consisted of the following parts - the household, granary, dump and tethered. The guest, who brought the transport of goods, certainly had to stop at the Gostiny Dvor, but he was not allowed to stop at other courtyards, and for entering the Gostiny Dvor he paid the first part of the duty, called the courtyard, or turning; then he paid the second part of the duty for storing the goods in a barn in the Gostiny Dvor, which was called a barn; a third share of the duty, called dump, was collected when goods were unloaded from a ship or wagon, and, finally, a fourth share, known as a tethered one, was collected from ships entering the trading pier. Even in the agreement between the Novgorodians and the Hansa in the XII century. mention is made of a duty at the entrance of the ship to the living room of the pier; the letter says: "When the guests entered the living room of the pier, then any ship loaded with goods paid duties in hryvnia kuna." This fee varied according to the rights of those guests from whom it was levied.
2. Trade was a duty levied on the very sale of goods at the auction. For this, according to Russkaya Pravda, a collector was always present at the auction, who was then generally called a collector. This duty was collected both from their merchants and from visiting guests. How the trade duty was collected and what percentage of the goods was trade duty, the monuments that have come down to us do not explain, but, judging by later evidence, it can be assumed that the trade duty was paid by the buyer, not the seller.
3. Myt. It was a duty collected for the transportation of goods through the washing gates, which were mainly arranged at bridges, transportations and at the entrances to villages and cities; at the outposts, mytny huts were usually built, in which there was a mytnik and his assistants. Each person arriving with goods was stopped by a collector and had to pay a collection duty both from the people who were with the convoy and from the goods. Mytnaya duty from people, otherwise called bone or capitation, was levied on the head; the duty on the goods was taken from the wagon or from the ship; in addition, the duty from the vessel differed according to the size of the vessel, namely: the layout of the duty was according to the number of boards that made up the bottom of the vessel, and a double duty was levied from each board from a boarded vessel. In the collection of the washing duty, there was a difference in who it was collected from, whether from our own merchants or from nonresidents; foreigners paid more. This duty was sometimes farmed out, sometimes for rent, and sometimes collected directly by the servants of the prince.
4. Transportation. Transportation was the duty for transporting goods and convoys across rivers; it was indefinite, and it was used not only by the princes, but also by private landowners, who arranged transportation across the rivers on their estates and set transportation duties at their own discretion, put their people on the rivers and did not allow merchants to cross the ford. This duty was levied on wagons, horses and people. She was sometimes given at the mercy of the treasury to outside tax-farmers or for quitrent to zemstvo communities, in whose possessions there were transportations. This duty was instituted only for the summer time, or, as it was then expressed, from the hollow water to those places where the rivers become.
5. Weight was the duty charged for weighing goods; for this, the government established general scales at the auction, for the serviceability of which, according to the charters of Vladimir and Yaroslav, the church strictly watched and checked them annually, for which the samples of weights were always stored either at well-known churches, or in other safe places, and weights used at the auction were compared with these samples. At the scales were special elders, to whose position people were elected who enjoyed the special trust of society, real, vulgar merchants. So, in the letter of Vsevolod, given to the Church of John the Baptist on Opoki, it is said: “And hang them in the porch of St. Ivan, where it was given and keep him; and weigh the elders of Ivansky two merchants, vulgar, kind people, and not vulgar merchants do not hold old money, nor do they weigh Ivansky's weight. And in another Vsevolodov’s letter - on church courts and on trading measures, the supervision of trading scales, presented to the bishop, is described in this way: observe without dirty tricks, do not diminish or multiply, but weigh every year; but it is twisted, and to whom it is ordered, and that one is close to death, and his stomach is in three: a third of the stomach of St. Sophia, and the other third is Holy. Ivan, and the third third of Sotsky and Novgorod. The verification of scales and the storage of samples at churches is mentioned in the contract letter of Mstislav Davidovich Smolensky with Riga and the Gotsky coast: commit." The payment of a heavy duty - how much from a capi, a pood, a Berkovets and a hryvnia and for what goods, was usually determined by special charter letters, and the payer was always the buyer, not the seller, and usually the duty was taken from visiting merchants or guests more expensive than from their own. So, in the letter of Vsevolod, given to the Novgorod Church of John the Baptist on Opoki, it is said: “And the guest imati from Nizovsky from two berkovsk waxed half a hryvnia of silver, and a hryvnia to pepper, from Polotsk and from Smolensk two hryvnias of kuna from berkovsk waxed, from Novotorzhenin one and a half hryvnia kunas from Berkovsk waxed, Novgorodets has six muzzles from Berkovsk waxed. The heavy duty, it seems, mainly complained to the church and the bishop, but, by the way, not without the participation of the prince himself in it. So, in the Vsevolodova letter, according to which the weight was provided to the Ivan Church, it is said: “And the Grand Duke will take from the weight of the waxed half a third hryvnia of silver in a year.” However, sometimes the weight was also supported by the government itself, and sometimes it was farmed out and rented, like all duties.
6. Pre-measure, or measure. This was the name of the duty levied when measuring bulk goods - rye, wheat, peas, nuts, etc., for which the government had state measures at the auction, called kads (kad was 6 fours), shackles (half of kad), boxes, quarters, osmins ; probably, the rules for levying a measurable duty were the same as the rules for a weight duty, but we have no evidence of this, except for one Rostislav charter, which mentions the premise as a duty that brought income to the prince. Moreover, in the charter, this duty is obviously represented as farmed out or transferred to the land, i.e., converted, because the charter says that the amount from 9 Verzhava churchyards converges 100 hryvnias a year, which, of course, could not be said for sure, if this duty had not been transferred to the land or converted. We also meet the custom of transferring trade duties to the land in subsequent times; This is evidenced by one statutory charter of 1564, which says: “And if the customs money is taken to the land, and you would zemstvo people and Cossacks all pay without change for bidding and heads, and not bellies, whoever trades more, he gives more.” The measure, that is, the payment of duties for the measurement of goods, according to the testimony of later monuments, lay with the seller, and not with the buyer; so, in one charter of 1551 it is said: “And they should pay the amount from the sale,” but who paid this fee at the present time is unknown.
7. Letter. This fee is mentioned in Vsevolod's charter on church courts and trade measures. The charter says: “And the priest of Ivanovsky Russian writing with Borisoglebsky on the floor”, that is, the writing duty from the goods brought from Russa was divided in half between the Ivanovo and Borisoglebsky priests or, perhaps, clergy. The duty, obviously, was levied when the goods brought to the auction were recorded in the books, because the merchants, arriving at the auction, had to declare their goods to the collectors, or customs officers, who recorded the goods in the import books and took duties for this.
8. Spot. The branding of horses during the sale was called a stain. The branding of horses is mentioned under 1170, where it is said that Mstislav sent Peter and Nestor Borislavich away from him "about that guilt, that the horses of Mstislavli stole his slaves from the herd and blew their spots, commemorating." The same is said about the branding of horses in Russkaya Pravda: "And for the prince's horse, like the one with the spot, three hryvnias." From the stain, or branding, the duty itself, levied on the sale of horses, was called a stain, and the collector of this duty was called a spotter. This duty was collected from the buyer and the seller. The horse trade was usually carried out in the following way: it was impossible to sell or buy a horse except with a spotter, or a collector, who, when making a trade transaction, put a stain or brand on the horse, and entered the names of the buyer and seller in a special book, where the testimony and about the horse itself - what kind of coat it is and what signs it will take. The spot duty was sometimes given from the sovereign to the owners of the land for rent, so that they collected it for themselves from all the horses sold and bought on their estate; sometimes she was given to strangers, as if in a salary or reward. So, in Vsevolod's charter on church courts, a spot from Russian horses was given to the Ivan watchman.
9. Taverns. This duty is mentioned only in the charter of Rostislav Smolensky, namely in the following expressions: on Prupai 10 hryvnias, and from that to the bishop a hryvnia, but in taverns you don’t know what will come down. Washed in Luchin, taverns don’t know what will come down.” From this evidence, it is only clear that the tavern, like other duties, was not determined by its nature, but, judging by the certificate of the letter, it was sometimes farmed out or rented; but what this fee consisted of, in what cases it was levied, the charter does not explain this, and we do not yet have other contemporary evidence. But judging by the testimony of later monuments, in which the duty for the brewing and sale of beer and honey was called tavern, then we can assume that in the XII century. tavern had the same meaning as in later times.
1. Tribute was known even in the previous period, but then it was not defined and was collected from the courtyard, or from the smoke. In the present period, it was defined and assigned to entire communities. The government usually appointed only from which area how much tribute should be, and the communities themselves collected it and delivered it to the government. So, in the Rostislav charter it is said: “In Toropcha, tribute is 400 hryvnia, and from that bishop take 40 hryvnia, and in Zhizhtsi tribute is 130 hryvnia, and from that bishop take 13 hryvnia, and in Kaspesi 100 hryvnia, and from that bishop take 10 hryvnia ". In assigning taxes, the government distinguished rich regions from poor ones and imposed fewer taxes on poor regions than on rich ones. In the same way, the communities themselves distributed taxes among their members according to their stomachs and trades.
2. Polyudie. This type of taxes was also one of the oldest. Constantine Porfirorodny, a writer of the 10th century, already mentions polyudye; according to him, the Russian princes went in the fall to the Slavic tribes in polyudye. Polyudie gathered in three ways: either the prince himself went after him to the regions, or sent his servants, or the communities themselves collected and delivered the polyudie to the prince. Initially, polyudye was given to the prince as a gift when he traveled around the regions for court and government, but then it turned into a pure tribute, so that the prince could determine in advance how much each region gives him polyudye. So, in the Rostislav charter it is directly defined: "... On Kopys polyudya 4 hryvnias."
3. The mistress. This type of taxes is found only in one Rostislav charter, where it is said: “At Verzhavleneh, at 9 great graveyards, tribute is 800 hryvnias, and one hundred hryvnias are taken; and 100 hryvnias on women. From this evidence, we see that the ladies made up a special kind of taxes and that this tax was determined by the prince in advance; but what this tax consisted of, on whom it lay and how it was collected - we have no evidence of this, either ancient or later.
4. Lesson, or dues. It was one of the most diverse types of taxes, and, moreover, the oldest; the chronicle mentions quitrents even under Olga, who, according to the chronicle, established quitrents and tributes in Luga. All types of duties and duties were generally called quitrent when they were laid out or transferred to the ground, that is, when instead of sending any duty or service in kind, the government agreed to take money or goods, determining in advance the amount that the whole region owes to pay instead of performing service or duty, and leaving it to the communities themselves to do the allocation of shares of this amount according to the stretches of the communal land; the same when the government has overturned various trade and other duties. In addition, taxes collected from various lands and crafts were called quitrent, for example. from fish catchers, from salt pans, from side huts, from beaver ruts, and in general from catching animals. So, in the Rostislav charter, it is mentioned about the dues from fishing in Toropets, and in the same place - about the dues from catching martens, foxes and from side boats: a fish sleigh, two tablecloths, three ribs, a berkowesk for honey. Here we see that quitrent was collected both in kind and in money.
5. Honor. So, it seems, the increase in quitrent in the form of a gift was called. So, at least, one can conclude from the Rostislav letter, where the honor is shown precisely as a replenishment of the quitrent; here are the words of the diploma: “Behold, from Mstislavl, 6 hryvnias of the lesson, and honors hryvnia and three foxes; from Kopysa 6 hryvnias of a lesson and two foxes, and honors 35 kunas; from Rostislavl three hryvnias, and honors hryvnia and four foxes. From this evidence, we still see that the honor, as well as the quitrent, was determined in advance in its quantity. The honor, the gift, the replenishment in the payment of quitrents was decidedly in the spirit of the then Russian society. The best evidence here is the ancient bill of sale that has come down to us, where almost constantly the buyer or payer wrote replenishment, honor, gift to the bargained price. Honor existed for a long time in Russia; in the Muscovite period, it was already defined and was called the Danish duty, which was nothing more than a percentage attached to the tribute. So, for example, in one bill of sale of the XIV century. it is said: “Behold, buy Ignata a village on a lukini, and give Ignata on that land 8 rubles and 20 forty squirrels, and a replenishment for a heifer is half a third white”; or in another bill of sale: “Behold, buy Philip a piece of land, and Philip on that land gave 50 bel and a linen of meat replenishment.”
6. Veno. This payment to the treasury is mentioned for the first time in the letter of Mstislav Vladimirovich the Great to the Yuryev Novgorod Monastery, where it is said: “Give St. Georgevs from Denmark and with virs and with sales and votskoe veno. Venom was the name of the fee collected in the treasury of the prince from marriages; later it became known as the crown duty. It consisted of two shares - hatching marten and newlywed ubrus; the first share was paid by the bride, and the second by the groom. The veno, or crown duty, was different, depending on whether the bride was from the same volost from which the groom was, or whether they were from different volosts and different counties. In the second case, the crown duty was three times more than when the bride and groom were in the same volost; if they were not only from different volosts, but also from different uyezds, then they paid three times more than if they were only from different volosts. The reason was that during such marriages, one or another society, volost or county, lost one of its employees.
7. Carriage. This was actually an underwater duty, and not a tax, that is, the inhabitants of the county were obliged to deliver carts and guides for state needs. But since this duty could not be sent in kind, having paid for it in advance in money and spreading this payment by stomachs and trades for a whole volost or county, then little by little a tax was formed from the duty, at first under the name of "carriage", and then under the name of "pit money", when a special class of wagoners, or coachmen, was formed, for whom the government built special settlements on high roads with the money collected. The Yama device already belongs to the 2nd half of the present period - at least we do not find news about it in the monuments of the 1st half.
The most important source of princely income was real estate, which was the private property of the princes, acquired by them by purchase or by other means. From these estates, the princes received income as private owners. They acquired various economic institutions there in order to extract great benefits from their estates.
Trade also continued to be a source of princely income. Details about this subject were not left to us by the chronicles of that time; we have only one annalistic news about the trade of princes during this period, namely, the annals say that Vladimir Vasilkovich, Prince. Volynsky, sent in boats along the Bug to sell live in the land of Yatvyazh. But there is no doubt that trade among the princes was then an abundant source of income, because most of the taxes collected in the treasury of the prince were paid in kind: bread, honey, wax, animal skins, fish, cattle, etc. All this accumulated at the princes in large sizes and served as the subject of princely trade. Princely trade was carried out either by princely bailiffs - merchants, or merchants elected from society, on whom the trade in princely goods was imposed as a service or duty.
Finally, various lands and crafts, ceded to the prince by the people, must be counted among the princely incomes; such were various crafts in rivers and lakes, salt industries and various forest lands, which were either given away for quitrent, or were listed for princely people who delivered to the prince the products they obtained from lands and crafts. So, for example, in the annals under 1240 it is mentioned that Daniil Romanovich of Galicia ordered to take over the entire production of Kolomiyskaya salt. However, such lands and crafts, as can be judged from the letters that have come down to us, were given to the princes only for temporary use. In addition, the princes did not have monopolies in trade itself, and therefore their trade did not in the least hamper private trade and industry. So, Svyatopolk-Mikhail of Kyiv was about to buy salt in order to raise the price, but competitors appeared, and the prince was forced to reduce his price for salt.
The incomes of combatants were divided into four types: 1) income from administration in the regions (feeding), 2) income from the court, 3) income from estates, 4) salary.
1. Management was the direct income of the combatants, which is why it was called feeding. How much and what the cities had to give for the maintenance of posadniks, tiuns and other princely officials - this was always strictly determined by the princes and the zemstvo. However, feeding did not constitute the main, permanent income of the combatants, because it was given only for a time, for certain periods, for the most part for one or two years, as a reward for military services and losses incurred by them during the war.
2. Judicial and administrative fees constituted the second type of income for combatants. They are described in some detail in Russkaya Pravda, from which it is clear that they were strictly defined by law, so the combatants could demand from the people only what was allowed by law. In addition, not only posadniks, but also tiuns and other princely officials at that time often changed and, therefore, did not have the opportunity to assert their power in one place or another. All this taken together was the reason that the combatants, who were entrusted with administration and court in cities and volosts, were not oppressors and robbers of the people, so that the strictness in determining duties by law was observed not so much in order to protect the interests of the people, but to protect the combatants from the obstinacy of the people because without it the people would give them nothing, or would give them too little. Of course, even at that time there were cases of various extortions on the part of posadniks, tyuns, etc. in relation to the defendants and cases of excessive requisitions, but this was nothing more than an exception to the general rule; for such requisitions, the Vladimirians expelled the Rostislavichs. Such examples, although they occur in history, are rare.
3. Estates were the main and constant income of the combatants. The estates were distributed to all combatants who were in the service of the prince, so that entering the service and receiving estates for combatants was one and the same; the combatant was equivalent to the landowner. The princes then especially tried to distribute the return of estates to combatants in order to more bind them to themselves, and so on. make them more zealous defenders of princely possessions. This was especially developed in those possessions in which some one princely family was established, for example, in the principality of Smolensk, in Galich, etc. The combatant, having received an estate, either ran a household in it himself, or rented it out to free farmers. According to the chronicles, combatants who did not have positions at the princely court or in cities and volosts, in peacetime usually lived on their estates and were engaged in farming.
4. The princely salary was not distributed to all warriors, but only to those who entered the service only by agreeing to receive a salary from the prince. But the category of these vigilantes was very few.
Topic 2. The emergence and development of the financial system in Ancient Russia.
1. The development of the monetary system and monetary relations in ancient Russia.
2. The main sources of government revenue.
3. Taxes of the "Golden Horde".
1. The development of the monetary system in ancient Russia.
Along with foreign trade, commodity-money relations also developed in the Slavic lands. The first money from the Eastern Slavs appeared long before the formation of the Kievan state. Initially, the role of money was played by the furs of valuable fur-bearing animals. The largest monetary unit was a bundle of valuable fur - "kuna", each of which corresponded in price to one silver coin. In addition, the Eastern Slavs had another name for money - “cattle” (amount of money, treasury).
In Kievan Rus, they hardly minted money, and in foreign trade they used mainly Arab and Byzantine coins made of gold and silver. Silver and copper ingots were much more widespread inside the country. So, since the 11th century, the hryvnia unit has been known - a silver ingot weighing 1 pound, or about 400 g. The hryvnia was cut in half, and each half of the hryvnia was called a ruble, or ruble hryvnia. The ingots were stamped with the prince's mark indicating the weight. Further, the ruble was divided into two parts - two half and another in half - two quarters. The names of small monetary units for a long time retained echoes of the so-called fur money, cut, skora (skin), white (squirrel), ears, muzzles, etc. This is how the hryvnia of silver appeared, and then - the hryvnia of kuna, corresponding to a certain number of coins. Thus, "silver hryvnia" (weighted) and "kun hryvnia" (calculated) became monetary concepts and instruments. It is known that the hryvnia kuna was divided into smaller units, the smallest of which was the veksha. One hryvnia kuna contained 100 vekshas.
The functioning of the trade routes of Ancient Russia had a great influence on the formation of monetary circulation throughout North-Eastern Europe: "eastern silver" - dirhems played the role of an international currency here throughout the 9th and most of the 10th centuries. However, in the second half of the 10th century, as the influx of Arabic coins decreased and the development of silver mines in Germany began, eastern silver was replaced by western silver - denarii, which, like in the countries of the Baltic region, began to be actively used in Russia. In calculations, Western and Eastern coins were taken by weight, regardless of their face value.
At the same time, the expansion of internal and external trade relations led to the establishment of monetary business. Regular minting of Russian metal money began during the reign of the Kyiv Grand Duke Vladimir with the participation of Byzantine artisans. These were "zlotniki" and "silver". They depicted a portrait of Prince Vladimir and his family sign, and on the reverse side - his name and the image of Jesus Christ. "Zlotniki" weighed 4 grams. This weight later became, under the name "zlotnik", a unit of Russian weight. The first Russian metal money was not widely used, because due to the lack of a capacious domestic market, there was no great need for them.
After the death of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Yaroslav the Wise, the minting of its own coin was discontinued - due to the lack of need for it. Inside the country, barter was still widespread, in addition, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Anglo-Saxon coins, as well as silver bars appeared in large quantities.
Already in the 11th century, credit relations were sufficiently developed in Kievan Rus. Concepts such as “a favor out of friendship”, “giving back money for growth”, “interest”, “cut” (interest), “trading on credit”, “long-term and short-term credit”, “profit” (profit) were introduced. the procedure for collecting debts was determined, the insolvency was malicious and as a result of an accident, etc. There were three types of credit relations: dacha "kun v rez" (i.e., the provision of a cash loan at interest); "true" - giving money in growth at interest; “nastav in honey”, “zhito in prisop” - the provision of loans in kind (honey, zhito). The size of the allowance for the return of these loans was also negotiated.
It was considered un-Christian to take high interest on a loan. When, at the beginning of the 12th century, usurers began to charge up to 50% per annum, the population of Kyiv opposed such predatory conditions in 1113, and the Grand Duke Vladimir Monomakh was forced to intervene. He introduced "Charter on cuts"(percent), in which it was indicated to reduce debt interest to 20%.
2. The main sources of government revenue.
Initially, the great princes of Kyiv collected tribute - polyudie from territories subject to them, periodically going around them or sending their deputies there - "posadniks", senior "husbands" - vigilantes. In addition to polyudya, there was cart: the population of those lands where the prince and governors could not or did not want to go, had to bring tribute to Kiev themselves. During the polyudia, the prince or the posadniks repaired the court and reprisal according to the complaints with which the population turned to the prince.
The size of the tribute, the place and time of collection were not determined in advance, but depended on the occasion. Later, due to the protests of the population, Princess Olga in 946 established "lessons", those. fixed norms of tribute, time and place of its collection. Traders also began to gather in these places. The unit of taxation was "smoke"(yard, family) or "plow"("ralo"). Gradually, the tribute took the form of a tax in favor of the state and the form of feudal rent - quitrent.
With the development of productive forces and production relations and the expansion of the borders of the state, the forms of taxes become more complicated. Taxes were collected in several forms: tribute, dues, tribute, lesson, gifts, bows, sterns, requisitions. Submit is a collective term that is equivalent to a tax and combines tribute, quitrent, and a lesson. However, if the tribute was set arbitrarily and collected by any values, including people, then dues were levied on a specific subject, and lessons were determined by the size and time of receipt.
In the X century. princely households arise and develop, which leads to the transfer of part of the taxes to a monetary basis. The emergence of monetary taxes became possible due to the growth of Kyiv's trade with neighboring states, which ensured the influx of gold and silver. This process causes the appearance of duties on foreign trade. Finally, the intensive construction of cities, fortresses, roads leads to the emergence of personal duties. The object of taxation was the house, the smoke, that is, the economy itself, the size of which and its economic possibilities were not initially taken into account. Taxation according to the number of household members became a higher level of taxation.
By the time of the collapse of the Old Russian state into separate principalities, the land becomes the object of taxation. In most principalities, the plow served as the basis of taxation. Sokha included a land plot of a certain size, taking into account the quality of the land, to which the taxed population was assigned. The farm included in the plow was collectively responsible for the completeness and timeliness of tax payment. All tax payments of the peasants were in-kind.
The emergence of internal duties associated with the emergence of Christianity. The clergy collected duties for their needs during the fairs organized on temple holidays.
In the XII century. Kyiv ceased to be the capital of a single state, which broke up into 12 independent principalities. There was no uniformity in the tax policy of this period; each feudal principality had its own system. Taxes remain natural. Cash income of the treasury does not play a decisive role; First of all, money serves as a store of value. The importance of income from tribute from the vanquished and booty from raids is increasing.
Of particular note among the taxes of Kievan Rus deserve trade duties and fees, united by the term "myt", which was usually collected in cash. Heterogeneous (according to the place of collection and time) duties were divided into two groups: outpost, levied before the start of trade, for travel, and trade. The outpost duties included coastal duties (from ships and boats that landed on the shore), transportation (on ferries and boats), mostovshchina (for passing through the bridge), bones (for traveling on large guarded roads - not for cargo, but from the merchants themselves) . The main form of trading fees is a phenomenon, a turnout, charged without exception from trading people and goods. Fees were collected for the storage of goods (living room), which did not go to the prince's treasury, but in favor of local feudal lords. Internal duties significantly hampered the development of trade, since their number and size were not regulated in any way.
3. Taxes of the "Golden Horde".
The development of the financial system of Russia was suspended in the XIII century. Tatar-Mongolian invasion. The conquerors imposed heavy tribute on Russia - yasakom. In addition to the constant tribute, various fees were levied. The collection of tribute was entrusted to the Mongolian tax collectors - Baskaks. Gradually towards the end of the thirteenth century the right to collect tribute passed from the officials of the Golden Horde to the great Russian princes.
In the conquered lands, the Mongols hurried to determine the solvency of the population by conducting a census. The first census in Western Russia was carried out back in 1245, the last in Eastern Russia in 1274-1275. The Mongolian census had two main purposes: to establish the number of possible recruits and to determine the total number of taxpayers.
There were two main types of taxes: 1) direct taxes from the population of rural areas; 2) city taxes. The main direct tax was called tribute. It was based on tithe. Initially, the Mongols demanded a tenth of "everything". Over time, the amount of tithe was regularized, and tribute was paid in silver rather than natural product.
In addition to tribute, there were a number of other direct taxes. plowed(in the north of Russia - a staff) was a tax on plowed land. Yasi was a special tax on the maintenance of horse-post stations. War(military, or soldier's tax), it was collected in those years when no recruits were recruited. duty (or sea otter) - cash payment instead of the obligation to work as a sea otter (royal slave).
Tamga was the main fee in the amount of approximately 0.4% of the capital. Tamga was paid in gold, or at least counted in gold. The richest merchants were taxed individually. Over time, the tamga took the form of a tax on the turnover of goods and was collected as a customs duty. In modern Russian, "customs" comes from the word "tamga". A local tax on goods was also levied - washed.
Topics of reports:
Types of money in ancient Russia.
Taxes in ancient Russia and the procedure for their collection.
The development of trade relations in ancient Russia.
The procedure for collecting taxes from Russian lands by the Golden Horde.
taxes are a necessary link in economic relations in society since the emergence of the state. The development and change of the state structure is always accompanied by the transformation of the tax system. In today's society, taxes
- the main form of state revenue, because the appearance of the taxes themselves is associated with the very first social needs.
How did it all start? Among the first forms of sacrifice, including religious interpretation, tithe was mentioned - one of the embryonic forms of taxation.
The first tax in Kievan Rus
After the baptism of Russia, Prince Vladimir built the Church of the Holy Mother of God in Kyiv and gave her a tithe from all income. In the annals of those years, the following message is interesting: “Having created the Church of the Holy Mother of God and giving her a tithe throughout the Russian land: from the reign to the Cathedral Church, from the entire prince of the court, a tenth share, and from the market every tenth week, and with the house for every summer from every flock and every living tithe.So, the initial tax rate on all income received was 10%.
Taxes of the united ancient Russian state
As the Old Russian state unified, i.e. from the end of the 9th century, the financial system of Russia began to take shape. Tribute was the main source of income for the princely treasury. It is, in fact, at first irregular, and then more and more systematic, directtax. Prince Oleg (912), as soon as he established himself in Kyiv, began to establish tribute from subject tribes. The population of Novgorod was obliged to pay the prince 300 hryvnias annually. The hryvnia was called an ingot of silver of various shapes (usually oblong),
which served as the largest exchange mark in Russia until the 14th century. It was a target collection for the maintenance of a mercenary squad for the defense of the northern borders. In ancient Russia, land taxation was also known.
The emergence of the ruble
In the XIII - XIV centuries, the final formation of the Russian financial system took place. Having escaped the Mongol invasion, Veliky Novgorod remained the only Russian principality with a "trade surplus", which received silver from Western Europe in exchange for forestry products. From here it spread throughout all Russian lands, and Novgorod money performed approximately the same function as the dollar in Russia in the 1990s. At the beginning of the 14th century, the townspeople carried out a monetary reform and reduced the silver content in the former hryvnia (from 200 to 175 grams), as if cutting off part of the ingot. This truncated hryvnia was called the ruble.The first Russian duties
Indirect taxation existed in the form of trade and judicial duties. The “myt” duty was levied for the transport of goods through the outposts, the “transportation” duty was for transportation across the river, the “living room” duty was for the right to have warehouses, and the “trading” duty was for the right to arrange markets. Duties "weight" and "measure" were established respectively for weighing and measuring goods, which was a rather complicated matter. The court fee "vir" was levied for murder, "sale" - a fine for other crimes. Court fees usually ranged from 5 to 80 hryvnia. For example, for killing someone elseserf without guilt, the murderer paid the master the price of the murdered in compensation for losses, and the prince - a fee of 12 hryvnias. If the killer escaped, then the residents of the district, vervi (community) where the murder was committed paid the vir. The duty of the vervi to catch the killer or pay
for him, the virus contributed to the disclosure of crimes, the prevention of hostility, quarrels and fights. Public vir was not paid in case of murder during a robbery. Having arisen and existed for several centuries as a custom, these orders were legalized
in Russkaya Pravda of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (c. 978-1054).
Taxes of the Tatar-Mongols
During the Tatar-Mongol invasion, the main tax was the "exit" levied by the Baskaks - authorized by the Khan, and then, when they managed to get rid of the Khan's officials, by the Russian princes themselves. The tax was levied on every soul of a malesex and from livestock.
Collection of customs duties
Further, the history of taxation developed in such a way that duties became the main source of domestic revenue. Trading fees were especially large sources of income. They increased significantly under Prince Ivan Kalita (1296-1340) due to the annexation of new lands to the Moscow principality.Toll collector in the 12th century in Kyiv it was called an octopus. He charged osmnichee - a fee for the right to trade. From the 13th century in Russia, the name “customsman” is used for the main collector of trade duties. The customs officer had an assistant called a collector.
The payment of "exit" was stopped by Ivan III (1440-505) in 1480, after which the creation of a new financial system of Russia began. The main direct tax was this money (tribute) from black-haired peasants and townspeople. A number of taxes were introduced: pit taxes, pishchalny - for the production of cannons, fees for city and serif business, i.e. for the construction of "zasek" - fortifications on the southern borders of the Moscow state.
It was during the reign of Ivan III that the oldest census salary with a detailed description of all churchyards dates back.
In each churchyard, first of all, the church is described with its land and the courtyards of clergy, then quitrent volosts, villages and villages of the Grand Duke, then - the land of each landowner, kupp, lord of Novgorod; the amount of sown bread, mowed haystacks; income in favor of the landowner; "feed" that went to the governor, etc.
First land tax
The description of the lands is important, since in Russia, back in the period of the Tatar-Mongol rule, a field tax was formed and developed, which included a land tax. The latter was determined not only by the amount of land, but also by its quality. The land was divided into tithes, quarters and vyti. In the vyti there were 12 quarters of good land, 1 quarter - about 0.5 tithes, medium - 14, thin - 16. The amount of tax was determined by the "sosh letter".It provided for the measurement of land areas, including built-up courtyards in cities, the conversion of the data obtained into conditional taxable units "plows" and the determination of taxes on this basis. The plow was measured in fours, its size in different places was not the same, it depended on the region, the quality of the soil and the ownership of the land.
Indirect taxes were levied through a system of duties and taxes, the main of which were customs and wine.
Innovations of Ivan the Terrible
Ivan the Terrible (1530-1584) significantly increased state revenues by introducing slightly different methods of collecting taxes. Under him, farmers were taxed with a certain amount of agricultural products and money, which was recorded in special books.So, when collecting direct taxes, the land was the main object of taxation, and the layout was carried out on the basis of scribe books. The books described the quantity and quality of lands, their productivity and population. From time to time scribe books were repeated
and checked.
During the reign of Ivan the Terrible in industrial places, the layout of taxes began to be carried out not according to "ploughs", but "by stomachs and crafts." Direct income tax was levied only from eastern foreigners, in whom every able-bodied man
was overlaid with fur or fur tribute, known as yasaka. Many in-kind duties at this time were replaced by cash dues. In addition to direct taxes, targeted taxes were widely practiced. Such was the pit money, the Streltsy
file for the creation of a regular army, polonian money - for the ransom of military people captured, and Russians driven into captivity.
Chief among the indirect taxes remained trade duties levied on any movement, storage, or sale of goods; customs duties, which were regulated during the reign of Ivan the Terrible; court fees. The layout and collection of taxes were carried out by zemstvo communities, through elected payers. They observed that tax burdens were distributed evenly "according to wealth", for which so-called salary books were drawn up.
Taxes under the reign of the Romanovs
During the reign of the Romanovs, the tax system improved more and more. Polonyanichnaya tax, which was collected from time to time by special order, in the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich (1629-1676) became permanent and was collected annually "from all kinds of people." Under Ivan the Terrible, the Streltsy tax was an insignificant tax, and under Alexei Mikhailovich it became one of the main direct taxes and was paid both in kind and in money.Duties were developed from various private transactions, from requests to administrative institutions, from letters issued from there - non-remunerated fees.
Often, under Alexei Mikhailovich, they resorted to emergency collections. First, the twentieth, then the tenth, then the fifth money was charged from the population. That is, direct taxes "from the bellies and crafts" rose to 20%. It became difficult to increase direct taxes, so an attempt was made to improve the financial situation of the state with the help of indirect taxes.
Salt excise brought to rebellion
In 1646, the excise tax on salt was raised from 5 to 20 kopecks. on the pud. The calculation was that salt is consumed by all segments of the population and the tax will spread evenly on everyone. However, in reality, it turned out that the poorest people were the most heavily affected. It fed mainly on fish from the Volga, Oka and other rivers. Caught fish was immediately salted with cheap salt. After the introduction of the specified excise tax, it turned out to be unprofitable to salt the fish. There was a shortage of the main food product. In addition, in people engaged in heavy physical labor, salt metabolism is most intense, and they need salt.more than the average for a person. The salt tax had to be abolished after the Moscow (salt) riot in 1648, work began to streamline finances on more reasonable grounds.
ancient customs system
A customs system was introduced in place of occasional customs duties and exemptions. In 1653, the Trade Charter was issued. In general, for foreigners, the customs duty was 12-13%, for Russians 4-5%. Thus, the Trade Charter had a protectionistcharacter.
In 1667, the rates were specified by the Novotrade Charter. A duty of 8 and 10 coins per ruble for Russians and 12 coins per ruble for foreign merchants has been preserved. But a provision was added that when traveling inland, foreigners must pay another hryvnia
from the ruble or an additional 10%.
The introduced property tax was actively spread. It was charged at a rate of 3 kopecks. from a quarter of the land that was inherited from everyone without exception, even from heirs in a straight line.
Taxes of Petrine reforms
During the reign of Peter the Great (1672-1725), transformative reforms, combined with continuous wars, required large financial resources. During this period, in addition to the archery tax, military taxes are introduced: dragoon, recruit, ship money, apply for the purchase of dragoon horses. The tsar established a special position - profit-makers, whose duty is to "sit and make profits for the sovereign." Thus, a stamp duty was introduced, a head tax on cab drivers - a tenth of the income from hiring them,taxes from inns, stoves, floating ships, watermelons, nuts, sale of edibles, renting houses, icebreaking and other taxes and fees. Even Gentiles were taxed for other church beliefs. For example, schismatics were required to pay a double tax. Through the efforts of profit-makers in January 1705, a duty was imposed on mustaches and beards.
In the future, profitmakers proposed a radical change in the taxation system, namely: the transition to a poll tax.
The first methods of tax evasion
Until 1678, the unit of taxation was the plow, established by the sosh letter. Since 1678, the yard has become such a unit. A method of tax evasion immediately arose: the yards of relatives, and sometimes just neighbors, began to be fenced off with a single wattle fence. The profit-makers proposed to move from the household system of taxation to the universal one, instead of the court, the “male soul” became the unit of taxation.Creating the Science of Taxation
At the end of the XVII - beginning of the XVIII century. the science of taxation begins to emerge as an essential part of economics and the sciences of nature and society in general. In Russia, the ideas of Adam Smith and other Western economists were developed by Nikolai Ivanovich Turgenev(1789-1871) in the book "Experience in the Theory of Taxes", where five basic rules for levying taxes are highlighted.
Catherine II divided the merchants into guilds
In practical taxation in Russia, major transformations took place during the reign of Catherine II (1729-1796). First of all, she introduced fundamental changes in the taxation of the merchants. Trade taxes and the poll tax from merchants were abolished, and a guild tax was established. Merchants were divided into three guilds depending on their property status. In order to get into the third guild, it was necessary to have a capital of more than 500 rubles. Those who had less capital were considered not merchants, but philistines and paid a poll tax.With capital from 1 thousand to 10 thousand rubles. the merchant was included in the second guild, and with a large capital - in the first. Each merchant announced his capital himself, "according to his conscience." Checks of property were not made, denunciations of its concealment were not accepted. Initially, the tax was levied at a rate of 1% of the declared capital.
After 10 years, the "City Regulation" was approved, which increased the amount of declared capital for enrollment in a particular guild. The rate remains the same. However, later it grew and at the end of the reign of Alexander I was 2.5%
for merchants of the third guild and 4% for merchants of the first and second guilds. The poll tax on the main population of Russia under Catherine II was preserved, but it was not quite the tax that Peter I introduced. According to the Decree of May 3, 1783, “taxes from the townspeople and peasants according to the number of souls are relied solely for convenience in the general state account” . Such an account should not constrain payers "in the ways they consider the most convenient and commensurate payment of taxes." The community could unroll the poll tax assigned to it
tax between its members as it deemed necessary. The fact is that Peter I in his decrees did not explain the procedure for apportioning the new tax. The poll tax was understood in the literal sense: it was simply calculated in the tax lists, but even during the collection it was laid out directly on the revision souls, without taking into account how many workers were actually in the family.
First exemptions for badlands
Since 1797, the Russian provinces were divided into four classes depending on the fertility of the soil and their economic importance, and separate capitation salaries were assigned to each class.Direct and indirect state taxes
At that time in Russia, direct taxes in the budget already played a secondary role compared to indirect taxes. So, the poll tax was collected in 1763 5667 thousand rubles, or 34.4% of all income, and in 1796 - 24721 thousand rubles, or 36% of income.In turn, indirect taxes gave 42% in 1764 and 43% in 1796. Drinking taxes brought almost half of this amount.
Throughout the 19th century government taxes remained the main source of income. The main direct tax was the poll tax. The number of payers was determined by audit censuses.
Along with the main rates for direct taxes, special-purpose allowances were introduced, for example: allowances for the construction of state highways, for the installation of water communications, temporary allowances to speed up the payment of state debts (valid from 1812 to 1820).
There were special government fees. Such, for example, was the tax introduced in 1834 on the road connecting St. Petersburg and Moscow. By 1863, the collection had extended to 23 highways. Fees were levied on passengers of railways, shipping companies, rail freight transported at high speed, as well as fees at seaports. There were duties on property passing by inheritance or by deeds of donation. At that time, they were taxed only by persons who did not have a direct right to inherit. There were passport fees, including from foreign passports. Fire insurance policies were taxed.
(Literature: O.V. Skvortsov, N.O. Skvortsova, "Taxes and taxation")
The Russian taxation system over time almost always took shape, developed and underwent certain changes, along with changes in its political structure and along with historical milestones.
The financial system of Ancient Russia began to take shape only from the end of the 9th century. during the period of unification of ancient Russian tribes and lands. main form
taxation of that period were requisitions to the princely treasury, which were called "tribute". Initially, the tribute was of an irregular nature in the form of indemnity from the conquered peoples. So, in the Russian chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" the peoples "who give tribute to Russia" are listed. Over time, the tribute acted as a systematic direct tax, which was paid in money, food and handicrafts. Tribute was collected by wagon when it was brought to Kyiv, as well as by polyud, when the princes or his squads themselves went after her. The unit of tribute in the Kievan state was "smoke", determined by the number of stoves and pipes in each household.
Indirect taxes were levied in the form of trade and judicial duties. The so-called "myt" - a duty levied when transporting goods through outposts near cities and large villages - became especially widespread.
Prince Oleg the Prophetic (died in 912), who, as a result of campaigns around Kyiv, united the lands of the Krivichi, Severyans, Vyatichi, Tivertsy, and others, in addition to tribute, obliged the conquered tribes to supply him with soldiers. The amount of tribute was a constant source of intrastate conflicts. So, the great Kyiv prince Igor, according to historians, was killed in 945 by the Drevlyans while trying to collect tribute from them again.
During the period of feudal fragmentation of Russia, duties for the transport of goods through the territory of the owner of the land acquire great importance, and duties were levied for each wagon. It was from this moment that the first attempts at tax optimization were recorded; merchants loaded their wagons with goods to the maximum, and in such a way that sometimes goods fell out. As a countermeasure, the local princes introduced a rule according to which the goods that fell from the wagons became their property. And so the Russian proverb was born: "What fell from the cart is gone."
In the XIII century. after the conquest of Russia by the Golden Horde, foreign tribute acted as a form of regular exploitation of Russian lands. The collection of tribute began after the census conducted in 1257-59. Mongolian "numerals" under the leadership of Kitat, a relative of the great khan. The units of taxation were: in the cities - the yard, in the countryside - the household. There are 14 types of "Horde hardships" known, of which the main ones were: "exit" ("Tsar's tribute"), a tax directly on the Mongol Khan; trading fees ("myt", "tamka"); transport duties ("pits", "carts"); contributions for the maintenance of the Mongol ambassadors (“fodder”), etc. Every year, a huge amount of silver left the Russian lands in the form of tribute. "Moscow Exit" was 5-7 thousand rubles. silver, "Novgorod exit" - 1.5 thousand rubles. These extortions exhausted the economy of Russia, hindered the development of commodity-money relations.
The payment of fees was initially controlled by the local officials of the khan - the Baskaks, in the late 50s - early 60s. 13th century tribute was collected by the merchants authorized by the khan - "besermen", who bought this right from him. However, due to popular uprisings, the "besermen" were expelled from all Russian cities and the functions of collecting tribute were transferred to the Russian princes.
Exorbitant requisitions were a constant cause of the armed struggle of the Russian people. So, at the end of the first quarter of the XIV century. repeated actions of Russian cities led to the elimination of the Basque system, and the political unification of Russia around Moscow created the conditions for the elimination of foreign dependence. The Great Moscow Prince Ivan III Vasilyevich (1462-1505) in 1476 completely refused to pay tribute.
After the overthrow of the Mongol-Tatar dependence, the tax system was reformed by Ivan III, who, having canceled the exit, introduced the first Russian indirect and direct taxes. The main direct tax was the poll tax, levied mainly on peasants and townspeople. Under Ivan III, targeted tax collections began to acquire special significance, which financed the formation of the young Muscovite state. Their introduction was conditioned by the need to carry out certain public expenditures: food (for casting cannons), polonyaniye (for the ransom of military people), serifs (for the construction of fortifications on the southern borders), streltsy tax (for the creation of a regular army), etc.
The leading place in the tax system continued to be occupied by excises and duties.
In the reign of Ivan III, the first foundations of tax reporting were laid. By this time, the introduction of the first tax declaration - the "sock letter" also belongs. The land area was converted into conditional taxable units "plows", on the basis of which direct taxes were collected.
Despite the political unification of the Russian lands, the financial system of Russia in the XV-XVII centuries. was extremely complex and confusing. Each order (department) of the Russian state was responsible for collecting a single tax payment.
During the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1629-1676), the Russian taxation system was streamlined. So in 1655 a special body was created - the Accounts Chamber, whose competence included control over the fiscal activities of orders, as well as the execution of the revenue part of the Russian budget.
In connection with the constant wars waged by Russia in the XVII century. the tax burden was enormous. The introduction of new direct and indirect taxes, as well as a fourfold increase in the excise tax on salt in 1646, led to serious popular unrest and salt riots.
Mistakes in the financial and tax policy of the state urgently required a theoretical basis for the state's activities in the fiscal field.
The era of reforms of Peter I (1672-1725) was characterized by a constant lack of financial resources for waging wars and building new cities and fortresses. To the already traditional taxes and excise taxes were added more and more, up to the famous tax on beards. In 1724, instead of household taxation, Peter I introduces a poll tax, which was imposed on the entire male population of taxable estates (peasants, townspeople and merchants). The tax went to the maintenance of the army and was equal to 80 kopecks. per year from 1 soul. The schismatics paid double taxes. It should be noted that the poll tax was about 50% of all revenues in the state budget.
In addition, in connection with the establishment of a special state position - a profitmaker, obliged to "sit and repair the sovereign's profit" the number of taxes regularly increased. So stamp duty, head tax on cab drivers, taxes on inns, etc. were introduced. A corresponding tax was also levied on church beliefs.
As a result of the reform of the system of public administration, out of twelve collegial ministries, four were responsible for financial and tax issues.
During the reign of Catherine II (1729-1796) the system of financial management continued to improve. So, in 1780, by decree of Catherine II, special state bodies were created: the expedition of state revenues, the expedition of revisions, the expedition to collect arrears. For the merchants, a guild tax was introduced - a percentage fee on the declared capital, and the amount of capital was recorded "according to the conscience of each."
The main feature of the tax system of the XVIII century. it is necessary to name the great importance of indirect taxes in comparison with direct taxes. Indirect taxes provided 42% of government revenue, with almost half of this amount brought by drinking taxes.
Until the middle of the XVIII century. in Russian, the word "submit" was used to designate state fees. For the first time in domestic economic literature, the term "tax" was used in 1765 by the famous Russian historian A. Polenov (1738-1816) in his work "On the serfdom of peasants in Russia." And from the 19th century the term "tax" has become the main one in Russia when describing the process of withdrawing funds to the state.
Early 19th century characterized by the development of Russian financial science. So, in 1810, the State Council of Russia approved a program of financial transformations of the state - the famous "plan of finance", the creator of which was the outstanding Russian economist and statesman M. Speransky (1772-1839). Many of the principles of taxation and the ideas of organizing public expenditures and revenues outlined in this program have not lost their relevance to this day.
In 1818, the first major work in the field of taxation appeared in Russia - "An Experience in the Theory of Taxes", authored by N. Turgenev (1789-1871), an outstanding Russian economist, a member of the Decembrist movement. This work is still a classic study of the foundations of state taxation, and also examines in detail the history of the Russian tax case.
In the second half of the XIX century. direct taxes are of great importance. The main tax was the poll tax, which since 1863 was replaced by a tax on city buildings. The complete abolition of the poll tax began in 1882. The second most important tax was quitrent - the payment of state peasants for the use of land.
Special taxes begin to play a special role: tolls on highways, tax on income from securities, apartment tax, passport tax, fire insurance policy tax, tax on rail freight transported at high speed, etc.
In the same period, a system of zemstvo (local) taxes began to develop, which were levied on land, factories, plants and trading establishments.
The formation of the Russian tax system continued as usual until the revolutionary events of 1917. In pre-revolutionary Russia, the following taxes were the main ones: excises on salt, kerosene, matches, tobacco, sugar; customs duties; trade tax; alcohol excises, etc.
In 1898, Nicholas II introduced a trade tax, which played an important role in the state's economy. During this period, the real estate tax was of great importance. In addition, there has been an increase in taxes reflecting the development of new economic relations in Russia, in particular, the collection from auction sales, the collection of bills and letters of loan, taxes on the right to trade, tax on capital for joint-stock companies, interest tax on profits, tax on automatic carriage, city registration tax, etc.
Loading...