The Custody And Distribution Of Customs Duties During The Period Of Republic Of China(1912-1945)

The outbreak of the Revolution of 1911 changed the customs binary system since the late Qing Dynasty.The commissioner of customs not only assumed the functions of tax assessment,but also added the collection and custody of customs duties.The”measures of customs duties for repaying external debt and indemnity M was established a system in which the Inspector-General of Customs repay for the external debt and indemnity with using customs taxes by the supervision of Diplomatic Corps,thus preserving the credit of the Chinese government.In the early days of the Republic of China,the Beijing government encountered financial embarrassment,unable to pay the expired foreign debt and indemnity on time,and naturally could not recover the custody of the tariff.The change in the custody of customs taxes makes the distribution of customs duties subject to the consent of the Diplomatic Corps.The Beijing government has been actively seeking to release the cusltoms surplus.With the cooperation of the Inspector-General of Customs,the Beijing government has been able to easily obtain the customs surplus,and Beijing government use the customs surplus as debt consolidation fund in 1921.During the period of the special conference on Chinese Customs between 1925 and 1926,the issue of the custody and use of the 2.5%additional taxation was one of the focal points of the debate.The British government has gradually established their new policy to China Customs,that is,the Chinese government fully enjoy the power of the collection,custody and disposal of additional taxation.The establishment of this new policy gradually extends from the customs additional taxation to all the customs duties.Guangzhou National Government and the Beijing government has levied 2.5%additional tax,and self-management and use.It began to impact the old custody of the tariff arrangements.Nanjing National Government control Shanghai Customs of the 2.5%additional taxation.Nanking Government issued internal bonds with additional tax as a guarantee to raise a lot of money.It provided a strong financial foundation for the unification China of the Nanking Government.In June 1928,the National Revolutionary Army occupied Beijing,Tianjin,Zhang Zuolin fled to the Northeast of China,the Kuomintang basically completed national unity formally.With the cooperation of Mae,Inspector-General of Customs,Nanjing National Government has reformed the tariff custody system in the implementation of the new national tariffs.National Government divided the tariff into two parts,one part is the old tax of 5%rate,the other part is the additional tariff.The former is deposited into the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to pay for foreign debts and indemnity,the latter is deposited into the Central Bank of China.In 1932,the National Government completely canceled the two taxes,the entire tariffs into the Central Bank of China,thus changing the system of the custody of tariff.With the change,the Nanjing National Government can completely use the customs surplus.The dispute of customs surplus was solved completely.Nanjing National Government can use the customs revenues for the internal affairs,the proportion of liquidation of internal debt gradually exceeded the external debt and indemnity.The Customs revenues really become fund sources of central government.After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937,Japan begin to deposit the tariffs of the occupied areas into the Japanese gold bank and seriously damaged the payment of foreign debt and indemnity.Maze as the Inspector-General of Customs,made his best endeavors to maintain the integrity of Customs until the outbreak of the Pacific War in December of 1941.However,the large amount of tax losses,causing great damage to the treasury of the national government.The National Government had to consider to take a new measure to pay for foreign debts and indemnity.After the outbreak of the Pacific War,the Customs split into the Wang Jingwei Customs and Chongqing Government Customs.The implement of the "public treasury law" marks the customs tax that it is no longer managed by the Inspector-General,completely directly manage and use by the Chinese government.With the signing of the new treaty in 1943 with the major Western countries,Britain and the United States and other countries abandoned the Boxer indemnity,and external debt guaranteed by customs revenue is temporarily suspended.At this point,the basic functions of customs revenue for guarantee of the foreign debts and indemnity is basically disappeared.Thus,the function of customs as the international credit agencies completely disappeared,so completely changed the status of China's customs.