Reinstatement of the tax system in 1921-1925 within the Tomsk Provincial Finance Department activities

The aim of this article is to explore the experience of the reinstatement of the tax system in Tomsk Province under the conditions of the New Economic Policy within the framework of the provincial finance department. The author analyzes main directions of Tomsk taxmen activities using the archive material. The commodity-money relations, which the New Economic Policy began to build, could not do without well-established finance. It was necessary to ensure the functioning of different kinds of sources of income funds and, above all, taxes. However, taxes for the years of military communism ceased to play a major role in the financing of public needs. This role was played by indemnities, issuance of money and requisitioning. The introduction of the Prodnalog was an important step in the transition to the commodity-money exchange. The largest direct tax was the tax on trade consisting of patent and equalizing charges. In 1922, the government introduced the income-property tax to strengthen regulation of income of different population groups. It had to cover all sources of income. In the implementation of the tax policy, a leading role belonged to the Provincial Finance Department (PFD) as part of the Provincial Executive Committee and a territorial body of the People's Commissariat for the Finance (PCF). The Tax Office was the leading one in the structure of PFD. The staff were determined by the Executive Committee and approved in PCF. PFD, represented by the Tax Office, actively used the provincial newspaper Krasnoye znamya. Its materials were varied: announcements, explanation, warnings, etc. In general, PFD, with the help of the newspaper, tried to teach and educate taxpayers. Tax recovery did not go easy. Thus, state-owned enterprises and cooperatives were the most inaccurate payers with massive violations, especially at the beginning of the NEP, and financial supervision had to wage a constant struggle. Since 1923, the Provincial Finance Department became responsible for receiving the Prodnalog, as the People's Commissariat and its territorial bodies which previously collected the Prodnalog were eliminated in July 1923. There were enormous difficulties caused not by only the plight of the majority of farmers in the region, but also by the inheritance received from the Gubprodkom (Provincial Food Committee), because its representatives often adhered to the principle of "the end justifies the means". In addition, the problems associated with the growth of arrears of taxes exacerbated after the completion of the monetary reform. PFD had to expend considerable effort to reduce them. Growth of arrears can be largely explained by the imperfection of the tax system, which was in need of reform. In general, according to reports, Tomsk Provincial Finance Department carried out plans for taxes, thereby contributing to the implementation of the currency reform, the reduction of the country's budget deficit.

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