Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Overview — Finance and Banking (II)
Section 2: Taxation. Tax revenue is the main source of fiscal income. Xiangxi's finance and tax authorities were sometimes separate and sometimes merged, and tax work kept moving forward. The trend was that agricultural tax was gradually replaced by industrial and commercial taxes. I. Agricultural Tax. Agricultural tax was the oldest and most important tax in the Xiangxi ethnic minority areas. In 1214 (7th year of Jiading, Southern Song), land was allotted per capita...
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Section 2 Taxation
Taxation is the main source of fiscal revenue. The fiscal and tax authorities of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture have been both separate and merged, and tax work has continued to develop. The development trend is that agricultural tax has gradually been replaced by various industrial and commercial taxes.
I. Agricultural Tax
The agricultural tax was the oldest and most important tax category in the Xiangxi ethnic minority areas. In the 7th year of Jiading in the Southern Song Dynasty (1214), land was allocated according to the number of people, with each adult paying 3 dou of rent grain annually and no other corvée. In the 9th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1581), when Zhang Juzheng served as prime minister, the "Single Whip" method was implemented, and the Tusi of Xiangxi were required to pay "autumn grain silver." After the failure of the Miao people's uprising during the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing Dynasty, the Miao frontier sub-prefectures and counties implemented "garrison fields to support soldiers" and collected "garrison rent"; other counties collected land tax. During the Republic of China period, land tax was collected uniformly. After the founding of New China, land tax was renamed agricultural tax.
In the winter of 1949, the 10 counties of the prefecture had a total of 1,544,710 mu of farmland. In 1950, 69.95 million jin of rice were collected, and agricultural tax revenue accounted for 65.1% of total fiscal revenue. In 1952, after land verification and output determination, the verified farmland area was 2,861,992 mu, the taxable output was 783.328 million jin, and 89.62 million jin of rice were actually collected, with agricultural tax revenue accounting for 55.9% of total fiscal revenue. In 1953, land reform was completed. Farmers paid taxes instead of rent. The agricultural tax threshold was raised to 151 jin, and from 151 to over 1,450 jin, the tax rate was divided into 20 grades, increasing progressively from 6% to 25%, using full progressive assessment; tung oil trees, tea-oil trees, tea, and other products were assessed by converting to rice at the wholesale price at the place of production at harvest time; the additional levy on ramie and sugarcane income could not exceed 20%. That year, 102.603 million jin of rice were actually collected. In 1957, rural cooperativization was realized. The 10 counties of the prefecture had 3,569 agricultural cooperatives, with a taxable output of 795.664 million jin and a tax amount assessed according to the rate of 109.714 million jin, with an average tax rate of 13.8%.
In 1958, the agricultural tax system underwent reform: the progressive tax system was abolished and a proportional tax system was implemented; regional differential tax rates were adopted; assessment was based on normal annual output with the agricultural cooperative as the unit; and for agricultural and forestry specialty products, the method of "assessing normal annual output by discounting actual output" was adopted. That year, the tax amount assessed according to the rate was 126.697 million jin, an increase of 10.1% over the previous year. In 1959, the production team, the basic accounting unit of the people's commune, was changed to the tax-paying unit. That year, the actual tax collected was 109.631 million jin, a decrease of 9.2% over the previous year.
In 1961, in accordance with the central government's spirit of reducing the burden on farmers, all 10 counties of the prefecture implemented a unified tax rate of 10%. That year, the tax amount decreased by 37.54 million jin compared with the previous year, a drop of 44.6%. In 1983, to adapt to the form of household contracting with output-linked remuneration, the method of "base figure in the team, task to the household,
reduction and exemption to the household, settlement to the household" was adopted. That year, the actual agricultural tax collected was 41.05 million jin. The decline in agricultural tax reflected the Party and government's concern for farmers, and a series of tax reduction and exemption policies were implemented, such as reductions and exemptions for ethnic minorities, social reductions and exemptions, disaster and crop failure reductions and exemptions, and reductions and exemptions for poor teams. In 1984, in accordance with the spirit of the CPC Central Committee's notice "On Helping Poor Areas Change Their Appearance as Soon as Possible," the Hunan Provincial People's Government decided to exempt the 10 counties and cities of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture from agricultural tax for 5 years. In 2005, the 8 counties and cities of the prefecture completely abolished agricultural tax, reducing agricultural fiscal revenue by 50 million yuan, retaining only 54.14 million yuan in agricultural specialty tax (flue-cured tobacco).
II. Various Industrial and Commercial Taxes
Various industrial and commercial taxes include business tax, value-added tax, personal income tax, urban maintenance and construction tax, vehicle and vessel tax, real estate tax, slaughter tax, resource tax, land use tax, stamp tax, fixed asset investment direction regulation tax, industrial and commercial tax, and late payment penalties and fines for taxes, etc. In the 3rd year of Xuantong in the late Qing Dynasty (1911), the 10 counties of the prefecture had already collected various industrial and commercial taxes totaling 24,629 taels of silver, accounting for 67.7% of that year's fiscal revenue. In the first half of the 37th year of the Republic of China (1948), industrial and commercial taxes totaling 1,143,700 yuan in "legal tender" were collected.
After the founding of New China, various industrial and commercial taxes maintained an upward trend until they replaced agricultural tax as the main tax category.
In 1950, the industrial and commercial tax revenue of the 10 counties of the prefecture totaled 1.34 million yuan in Renminbi, accounting for only 32.3% of total fiscal revenue. With the development of the national economy and the increase in industrial and commercial enterprises, various industrial and commercial taxes grew rapidly. In 1971, industrial and commercial tax revenue in the 10 counties of the prefecture reached 12.106 million yuan, accounting for 52.5% of the total fiscal revenue of the 10 counties. In 1988, various industrial and commercial taxes in the 10 counties of the prefecture rose to 226.209 million yuan, accounting for 97.5% of total fiscal revenue.
With the deepening of reform, other tax categories within the industrial and commercial tax class were successively introduced. In 1994, value-added tax of 49.65 million yuan, business tax of 21.48 million yuan, personal income tax of 4.46 million yuan, urban maintenance and construction tax of 22.51 million yuan, vehicle and vessel tax of 440,000 yuan, real estate tax of 4.21 million yuan, resource tax of 480,000 yuan, slaughter tax of 2.46 million yuan, land use tax of 1.69 million yuan, stamp tax of 2.48 million yuan, fixed asset investment direction regulation tax of 8.22 million yuan, and industrial and commercial tax and late payment penalties and fines of 130,000 yuan were collected, totaling 118.57 million yuan, accounting for that year's local revenue
of 63.2%.
After the founding of New China, a number of state-owned industrial and commercial enterprises were successively established. After these enterprises paid industrial and commercial taxes, the profits they obtained were turned over to the state treasury; if they incurred losses, the state treasury made up the losses. In some years, they also turned over basic depreciation funds, income from the sale of fixed assets, and returned surplus working capital and capital occupation fees. Enterprises had no operational autonomy and often incurred losses. In 1983, the "replacement of profit delivery with tax payment" was implemented, gradually realizing enterprise independent operation and tax payment according to regulations. In 1994, the 8 counties and cities of the prefecture collected 12.54 million yuan in enterprise income tax, accounting for 6.25% of that year's local fiscal revenue.
In addition to the various industrial and commercial taxes, there were other taxes. For example, the deed tax: during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period, all land and property transactions required payment of the deed tax. After the founding of New China, the deed tax continued to be levied. However, after the people's commune movement in 1958, land was not allowed to be bought or sold, and there were few private house transactions, so the deed tax was neglected. In order to increase fiscal revenue, the deed tax was reinstated in 1962, suspended in 1968, and restored again in 1983. From 1986 to 1988, the 10 counties within the prefecture collected a total of 968,000 yuan in deed tax.
In order to protect agricultural farmland, starting from April 1, 1987, non-agricultural construction land was cleaned up, and the farmland occupation tax was levied according to law. In order to balance the tax burden on crops, ensure stable growth of grain production, and increase fiscal revenue, the agricultural and forestry specialty tax began to be levied from 1988. In 1994, the 8 counties and cities within the prefecture collected 37.08 million yuan in farmland occupation tax, agricultural and forestry specialty tax, and other taxes, accounting for 19.2% of local fiscal revenue that year. In 2005, except for flue-cured tobacco, the agricultural and forestry specialty tax was exempted.
III. State Taxation
The State Taxation of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture was established in 1994 when the state tax authorities were separated. The State Taxation Bureau was mainly responsible for the collection and management of value-added tax, consumption tax, vehicle purchase tax, personal income tax on savings deposit interest, and taxes of foreign-related enterprises.
Since 1996, the state tax system has firmly established the tax administration philosophy of the new era, strictly followed the sixteen-character tax administration guideline put forward by the CPC Central Committee—"strengthen collection and management, plug loopholes, clear up tax arrears, and punish corruption"—overcame many difficulties such as shortage of economic tax sources and tight tax revenue funds, persisted in promoting law-based tax administration, actively strengthened tax collection and management, and fairly well completed the state tax collection tasks. During the "Ninth Five-Year Plan" period, the state tax bureaus of the 8 counties and cities across the prefecture organized a total of 2.13359 billion yuan in various taxes, providing strong financial guarantees for supporting Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture's poverty alleviation and ethnic economic construction.
In organizing state tax revenue work, the broad cadres and staff of the state tax system continuously innovated, administered taxes according to law, deepened reform, strengthened management, and strove to serve local economic construction. According to the reform thinking of the State Administration of Taxation—"based on tax declaration, relying on computer management, centralized collection, key inspection, and strengthened management"—they carried out collection and management reform work in depth. More than 90% of the over 15,000 taxpayers in the 8 counties and cities across the prefecture were incorporated into the computer management of tax service halls. To ensure standardized and efficient operation of the tax service halls, the state tax system across the prefecture unified the setup of service windows in the tax service halls, clarified 9 specific responsibilities including tax law announcements, registration, invoice management, declaration and collection urging, and acceptance of reports, and assigned responsibilities by post, decomposed tasks down to windows and individuals, standardized window work processes, and fully launched unified tax collection and management software. In 2001, four-level networking was realized among the General Administration, provincial, prefectural, and county (city) bureaus.
The Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture State Taxation Bureau persisted in law-based tax administration, and tax collection and management gradually entered a legalized track. In addition to publicizing policies and regulations to taxpayers, it also carried out Tax Publicity Month activities under the themes of "law-based tax administration, strengthening the nation and enriching the people," "taxation and the future," and "taxation and citizens," raising taxpayers' awareness of voluntary tax payment and creating a good tax-paying environment. It strengthened tax law enforcement management and gradually standardized tax law enforcement behavior. In 2001, it focused on cleaning up and rectifying the implementation of tax policies concerning mineral product mining and processing, smelting, small hydropower, agricultural products, purchase of waste and old materials, and transport invoice deduction. General taxpayers were managed according to credit ratings A, B, and C, with annual reviews. Over several years, the general taxpayer qualification of 192 enterprises was canceled according to law. Tax inspection efforts were intensified, and the tax order was comprehensively standardized and rectified. In the autumn of 2001, 124 commercial households were inspected, problems were found in 105 households, and 2.066 million yuan in taxes was recovered.
It persisted in serving local economic development and promoted the healthy development of the private economy, making it a new growth point for tax revenue. In 2000, the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture state tax system organized a total of 59.5 million yuan in taxes from private enterprises, more than triple the amount in 1995. In 2003, after reporting through multiple channels on the tax issues of the Xiangquan Group, its tax plan was reduced by 60 million yuan, allowing historical burdens formed over the years—such as price inversion, bad debts, dead accounts, unrecoverable accounts, and spoiled and deteriorated inventory—to be gradually absorbed. This played an important role in reducing enterprise burdens and maintaining survival and sustainable development.
Collection measures were strengthened, and taxes were actively organized. In 2004, affected by the restructuring of state-owned enterprises and the state's macroeconomic regulation policies, various contradictions intertwined at Xiangjiugui Co., Ltd., production and operation were very difficult, and the progress of tax revenue entering the treasury was very slow; Longshan Cigarette Factory fully suspended production for rectification. Traditional tax sources dominated by tobacco and alcohol sharply declined, creating tremendous pressure on tax work. The Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture state tax system turned pressure into motivation and earnestly implemented the organizational principle of "persist in levying taxes according to law, collect what should be collected, resolutely do not collect excessive taxes, and resolutely prevent and stop unauthorized tax reductions and exemptions." For the whole year, it organized 495.18 million yuan in taxes entering the treasury, an increase of 32.87% over the previous year, ending the situation of low-speed growth in state tax revenue over the past 10 years. In 2005, a historic breakthrough was achieved again, with various taxes entering the treasury through the state tax system reaching 644.41 million yuan (excluding vehicle purchase tax), an increase of 30.62% over the previous year, achieving high-speed growth for two consecutive years.
IV. Local Taxation
After the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture local taxation system was established in September 1994, it closely centered on organizing revenue, took standardized management as the main line, strove to consolidate the foundation of collection and management, effectively improved the quality of collection and management, focused on improving the quality of the cadre team, and deeply carried out local taxation serving the local economy. Local tax revenue grew rapidly, the pace of informatization construction accelerated, the quality of collection and management improved markedly, and local tax work achieved relatively rapid development. In 1994, the 8 counties within the prefecture completed 103.72 million yuan in local tax revenue; in 1996, 147.35 million yuan; in 2000, 200.67 million yuan, achieving the goal of doubling local tax revenue 2 years ahead of schedule; in 2004, 330.55 million yuan, with revenue rising another step in 4 years and breaking through the 300 million yuan mark.
Organizing tax revenue has always been the center of local tax work. To this end, the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture local tax system vigorously grasped plan implementation, strictly assessed progress, ensured balanced entry into the treasury, strengthened the collection and management of key industries and tax types, and promoted withholding and remittance, entrusted collection, joint collection, and coordinated collection—various effective collection and management methods with local tax characteristics. For key and difficult tax types such as business tax, resource tax, land value-added tax, vehicle and vessel use tax, personal income tax, and enterprise income tax, new collection and management measures and methods were successively introduced to ensure steady growth of key tax types. The functional role of tax inspection was strengthened, and special tax inspections were successively carried out on key industries and enterprises within the prefecture such as postal and telecommunications, finance and insurance, electric power and petrochemicals, and administrative institutions, opening up tax sources and increasing revenue. In 2000, the whole prefecture investigated and handled 113 various tax-related cases, verified and collected 27.89 million yuan in local taxes, 80,000 yuan in late fees, and 3.59 million yuan in fines, with 8 people handled by public security and 24 people detained.
The spirit of the "two shifts"—shifting toward collection and management and shifting toward the grassroots—was earnestly implemented. In light of actual conditions, the Measures for Implementing Collection and Management Reform of the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Local Taxation Bureau were formulated, and a new tax collection and management model was initially established, mainly based on self-declaration, centralized collection, and key inspection, supplemented by a network of tax coordination, tax protection, and entrusted withholding and collection. Nine tax service halls were set up in urban areas, equipped with 45 microcomputers, and a new collection and management model relying on computer networks was gradually established, realizing the functional transformation of special administrators from managing households to managing matters, basically achieving centralized collection, reducing tax costs, and improving work efficiency. The self-declaration tax payment system was actively promoted. In 2000, the declaration rate of enterprises reached 95%, and the declaration rate of fixed individual businesses reached 80%, and in recent years it has increased further. Collection management was strengthened and collection order standardized. In 2004, the "Standardized Management Year" activity was carried out, tax law enforcement was intensified, a reporting system for irregular policies was established, special inspections of tax law enforcement were carried out, and deviations in policy implementation were corrected in a timely manner. A total of 526 taxpayer households were spot-checked across the prefecture; 6,097 yuan in over-collected taxes and 3,988 yuan in uncollected or under-collected taxes were found; accountability for collection and management responsibility was pursued against 273 person-times, with fines of 36,085 yuan, and collection and management efficiency improved markedly.
It persisted in local taxation serving the local economy, fully gave play to the tax function, gave first and took later, conserved tax sources, and promoted the sustainable development of the local economy and local taxation. From 2002 to 2005, 47 households enjoyed the enterprise income tax preferential policy for western development, with tax reductions and exemptions of 41.35 million yuan; tax preferences for reemployment of laid-off workers were handled for 417 households and 1,727 people, with tax reductions and exemptions of 23.12 million yuan; tax registration was handled for 3,035 reemployed persons, with 131,000 yuan in registration certificate fees waived. In 2004, the Measures for Tax Administration of the Tourism Industry and the Measures for Resource Tax Administration of Construction Use were issued. On the basis of the original tax collection and management of the transportation industry, tax collection and management software was promoted through networking with traffic police, effectively strengthening source control of vehicle operation taxes. That year, the whole prefecture collected 11.22 million yuan in vehicle taxes, an increase of 42.4% over the previous year.
In order to further standardize tax law enforcement behavior, the local tax system across the prefecture, while persisting in serving taxpayers, vigorously promoted the creation of demonstration windows for handling matters according to law. A total of 8 model streets for "honest tax payment and civilized service" were built across the prefecture, giving taxpayers examples to learn from and goals to strive for. In 2004, the Xiangxi Local Taxation 10-Year Work Report and Commendation Conference was held, commending the prefecture's "Top Ten Honest Taxpayers" and "Top Fifty Taxpayers," which received praise from all sectors of society.
In 2005, the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Local Taxation Bureau adhered to the tax administration guideline of collecting all taxes due, prohibiting collection where no tax is due, and resolutely not collecting excessive taxes, strictly assessed tax plan targets, strengthened monitoring of key tax sources, did a good job in collection and management of scattered taxes, and severely cracked down on various tax-related illegal acts. For the whole year, 371.19 million yuan in local taxes entered the treasury, an increase of 12.29% over the previous year. During the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, a cumulative 1.659 billion yuan in local taxes entered the treasury, with an average annual growth rate of 13.92%, higher than the growth rate of gross national product.