Shi Bufan left the samurai Tong's house the next day, returned home directly for bathing and changing, and then hurried to the criminal department to work. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info His official position is Wailang, the doorman of the Criminal Department, but he is currently mainly responsible for all kinds of things such as raising money for the imperial court and preparing transactions with the Turks, so he can arrange his own work hours instead of going every day. However, as an official of the Criminal Department, he still has to go to the Criminal Department regularly to see if there is any business.

"Shi Yuan Wailang, this is the recent tax collection situation at each pass in Chang'an, and the list of tax collection at each pass is here!" One of the scribes said with a ledger in his hand.

Shi Bufan had a general understanding of the taxation methods of the Tang Dynasty, the taxes of the Tang Dynasty were collected by classification, and different types of taxes were collected by different departments. Among them, agricultural tax was the main major tax and the most important pillar of tax revenue in the early Tang Dynasty, accounting for at least 85% or more. These agricultural taxes were collected by the magistrates, who collected the rents and then transported some of them to the border gates, while the other part was sent to Chang'an. And this kind of tax collected by magistrates, coupled with the imperfect supervision system in ancient times, and even the same supervision system as paper paste, can easily give magistrates the opportunity to increase their weight. Even the magistrates are directly responsible for collecting taxes, which will make the local power soar. In the late Tang Dynasty, the warlord Jiedu envoy took the opportunity to become a warlord domain because he mastered the local tax power and civil power.

"With the current means, it is not realistic for the central government to directly collect agricultural taxes. However, I, the doorman of the Criminal Department, am responsible for the customs duties in the commercial tax, which can be directly collected by the central government! Shi Bufan thought.

Shi Bufan's criminal department is responsible for the policy arrangements for the collection of taxes at the national gates, and the department is responsible for the establishment and abolition of the gates, as well as the formulation of various customs rules and even the standards of land tariffs. As for Shi Bufan, this doorman is responsible for the collection of tariffs and the formulation of policies. The six ministries are actually government affairs departments, not the administrative departments responsible for implementation, so generally the six ministries will not be responsible for specific implementation.

Tariffs are paid by merchants and others when they pass through the gate, and they generally have to pay once after passing through a gate. As for this arrival, there is also the so-called city tax, which is collected by the local city supervisor.

"This tax is really heavy!" Shi Bufan also complained.

A gate collects taxes once, fortunately, the world is still relatively peaceful now, otherwise once there is a split, then there are simply too many such passes, and then all kinds of tariffs will be enough to collect them. The tax policy at this pass is actually very unscientific, and a tax is collected at a pass, and if it accumulates again and again, I am afraid that a lot of taxes will be collected, which will increase the tax cost of businessmen.

"Now how much tax does the imperial court let us collect at each pass?" Shi Bufan asked.

The scribe replied: "At present, the imperial court has allowed us to collect about one cent of customs duties at each of our gates. ”

"One cent, that's one percent, and if every pass comes to increase the tax revenue by one percent, then it's really not a small amount. Once the 10 passes have passed, the cost is equivalent to an increase of 10 percent, and the price of goods must be increased by at least 20 percent. Once the materials are increased by 20 percent, then I am afraid that the profits of the merchants will definitely be much lower in the future. And at that time, the people will also be exploited at high prices, and the consequences here are unimaginable. Shi Bufan thought.

Shi Bufan then asked: "Is it the same tax for all goods?" ”

"Of course, all things are the same, can they be different? Of course, we have to treat everyone equally, and all goods are taxed equally. Otherwise, wouldn't it be discriminatory if different tariffs were charged on different goods? When the time comes, the people will definitely scold our court. The scribe said.

Shi Bufan finally scolded: "Which idiot formulated such a non-discriminatory tariff policy? What idiot made it, so ungrounded? Who told you that tariffs should be collected equally? ”

"Isn't it?" The scribe asked, obviously confused.

Shi Bufan could only say: "Don't you know that the profit margin of different goods is different? If it is to transport sand and grain, the profit margin is relatively low, which is just a hard-earned money. But if it's transporting those luxury goods, such as pearls and gemstones, the profit is definitely very high. Even if it is charged according to the same proportion, the profit ratio of those luxury goods must be higher. What's more, those luxury goods are lightweight, small in size, high in value, and can be transported without much manpower. On the contrary, those grain sand and gravel are not only low in profit, but also a hard money, and they are very heavy and large, so they need to invite many people to help with transportation. This is tantamount to increasing their costs, thus further diluting profits. Who would dare to do this kind of business in the future, not to mention that everyone will go to do those luxury goods at that time. ”

"Taking a step back, the vast majority of people who use sand and gravel grains and various civilian necessities are ordinary people. If you ask those who sell people's biological goods to pay more taxes, then these taxes will eventually be passed on to the ordinary people, and the ordinary people will have to bear higher taxes at that time. And those luxury goods are generally for the use of the rich, and the rich people have enough wealth, but you have the same taxes, which is actually completely insufficient to make up for the deficiency. ”

"Zhou Yi has clouds, God knows, there is more than enough to make up for the shortage. The way of man, the loss is more than enough. The imperial court should adopt the way of heaven, but I think your tariff is completely following the way of man. Don't look at the surface as treating everyone equally, but you are completely indirectly exploiting the people! ”

Shi Bufan is really speechless about this ancient tax policy, on the surface it seems that they treat everyone equally, and all goods use the same tax ratio. But after careful scrutiny, they actually don't understand the laws of business at all, and they don't understand the basic business conditions at all. Different materials have different prices, and even different profit margins. And some luxury goods are lightweight, high value, and portable for transportation. And those goods with low profits, large volume and high weight require a lot of transportation costs. And those things with low profits and high weight are often related to people's livelihood, and in the end, the people still have to bear higher prices.

As for those luxury goods, they were obviously used by officials, nobles, rich people, etc. In fact, this is exploiting the common people and satisfying the bureaucratic and aristocratic rich. Therefore, the tax policy of later generations has always been collected in different categories, and different industries have different tax rates, and even different commodities have different tax rates, so as to ensure the balanced development of all walks of life. Industries with high profits are taxed more, and industries with low profits are taxed less, so as to maintain the stable development of all walks of life and prevent a certain industry from disappearing completely.

"According to this tax scheme, I am afraid that the poor will get poorer and the rich will get richer. It has to be changed! Shi Bufan thought.

Shi Bufan said: "You go and formulate a new policy, and in the future, the tax rate on all grain, sand and gravel, as well as some various bulk civilian materials and materials related to people's livelihood, will be reduced." Commodities that are more closely related to the lives of the people will be reduced to 1 to 5 thousandths at each gate. The food, cloth, etc., which are most closely related to the people's livelihood and cannot be separated from by the people, can be taxed at one-thousandth. And the rest can be formulated according to the situation. ”

"As for those luxuries, unless they are war horses for military supplies, all the others will give me a heavy tax. Pearls, precious stones, all kinds of rare birds, etc., luxuries that ordinary people cannot afford, all of them are taxed at least three times as much at each gate. Each pass is about three percent, and even higher, up to seven percent. ”

Those scribes' faces were as pale as earth, and then they said: "Shi Yuan Wailang, if you do this, then maybe those luxury goods are transported from afar, and after so many passes, I am afraid that the price will be increased several times in the end!" ”

"Afraid of what? Since those rich people can afford these luxuries, they will not care about spending several times more. What's more, they have people who need the protection of my Tang government and army, so why don't they pay more taxes? They have gained so much wealth and noble status, if they don't pay more taxes, then why should I let the Tang Dynasty government and the army protect them? ”

"What's more, taxation is an important means of wealth redistribution, and you don't think about how to slaughter fat pigs, but you actually think about attacking those ordinary people, how can you really do that. Those rich people stink of wine and meat one by one, so they should pay more taxes. ”

Shi Bufan directly stated that the carriage and horses asked the rich to pay more taxes, especially the taxes on this kind of luxury, and they had to pay more. Those rich people use a lot of wealth to buy luxury goods, which do not help people's livelihood, but will promote the extravagance of society. What's more, letting the rich pay more taxes is almost universally recognized by governments in later generations. The richer you are, the more you have to pay more taxes, because the more benefits you enjoy, the more you naturally have to pay. Taxation is also a means of curbing the gap between the rich and the poor, and paying more taxes on the rich is not only conducive to reducing the burden on ordinary people, but even if those rich people collect some more taxes, even if they increase it several times, it will not make them unable to survive. On the contrary, even if ordinary people collect an extra 1 percent of taxes, the change in their lives is incomparably huge.

Therefore, slaughtering a "fat pig" is more valuable than collecting hundreds of ordinary people. This kind of taxation in the early Tang Dynasty seems to be the same, but it is actually the biggest unfairness. It restricts the movement of those essential goods, but instead fuels the business of those luxury goods.

"Reducing the tax on people's biological resources will help increase the balance of the prices of people's biological goods in various places without too many changes. As for those luxury goods, they should be overtaxed. Shi Bufan said.

Shi Bufan once got a survey when he did macroeconomic data statistics in later generations, and the prices of those daily livelihood commodities and materials in major areas of the country, as long as they are not remote areas such as Tibet and Xinjiang, are actually stable. That is to say, whether it is a big city or an ordinary small city, the material prices of people's livelihood commodities are about the same, and some people may take it for granted that the material prices in big cities are high, but in fact, they are all about the same. Housing prices in big cities are high, but in the final analysis, houses are not absolute people's biological resources, and the so-called houses are just needed is just a fallacy. On the contrary, the luxury goods in small cities are higher than those in large cities, because luxury goods in these small cities have to pay more taxes and pay more taxes than in large cities.

Therefore, reducing taxes on people's biological resources will help the price balance of people's biological resources in various places, and in turn help the people everywhere to live conveniently. Otherwise, those places that urgently need food do not have enough food, and those places with a lot of food are facing the result of not being able to sell it, so they can only guard the mold, isn't this a tragedy?

First of all, it is necessary to ensure that the prices of people's biological resources in various places are the same as possible, and as for any commodities that are not just needed, they can also be exempted from such strict restrictions. Especially luxury goods, which are subject to more taxes. These luxury goods don't pay more taxes, do they want to make those ordinary people pay more taxes?

"Okay, just do what I want, and then give me a new tax policy! In addition, this time, the main focus is to reduce the tax on those people's biological resources and increase the tax on luxury goods. Also, this time everyone has to pay taxes, no matter who it is, play with me to pay taxes, and don't even think about running. It doesn't matter if they are behind the nobles or some other person, they will pay my taxes honestly. If the agricultural tax is not paid, it is fine, and if the commercial tax is not paid, then it is really unreasonable. Shi Bufan said.

The scribe hurriedly said, "I'll arrange it right away, and we'll definitely work out a new tariff policy as soon as possible!" Is the tax on grain, cloth, etc., reduced to one thousandth, and luxury goods at least three percent? ”

"Every time, three percent at each gate, if one by one the gates are shipped, the price will increase by at least 30 percent, maybe even several times! If these fat pigs are not slaughtered, it is really a waste of this opportunity. This is the way of heaven for me, and I have more than I can lose and make up for what I lack. Shi Bufan said.

Those scribes hastened to formulate new tariff policies, especially the introduction of separate tariffs and the establishment of tariff lists, unlike the one-size-fits-all tariff ratio for all goods in the past. Taxes on luxury goods will be raised several times, while tariffs on ordinary civilian goods will be generally reduced, even tenfold. Tariffs are reduced tenfold, which means not only reducing tax costs, but even reducing risks.

Regarding the cost, not only is there the so-called capital cost, Shi Bufan knows that there is also a saying in business called risk cost, if the tax is a little more every time, then the risk will also increase, and finally the businessman has to pass on the risk into a price to the people. Lowering taxes is actually reducing the risk cost of businessmen, and in the end, the price reduction is far more than the cost of those taxes. (To be continued.) )