Interaction Between The Government And Merchants In Brokerage Taxation

Since the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China,the central government had repeatedly issued new regulations on rectification of brokerage taxes,hoping to strengthen the control of local tax sources.However,at the practical level,counties,as economic collection agencies,which were often under the great pressure of long-term lack of government fees,has shown the ability to adapt new rules flexibly through interaction with the forces of civil society,and responded to the administrative authority of the central or provincial level through informal means,then strived to ensure the normal operation of local finance.This article focuses on the breaking and reshaping of the tax order under the fiscal pressure of the counties in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China.Taking the tax collection of Qingyuan County as an example,it presents the conflicts and consultations between the county office,the chamber of commerce and the tax contractor.Under the tide of the modernization of the tax system in the early Republic of China,the formal system and the informal system in the local taxation process merge into a complex look.On the other hand,in the official correspondence between government and business,the wording gradually reveals that civil society caters to and uses official ideology.The new taxation concept and legal consciousness also subtly affect the effectiveness of negotiations,and become a key factor in controlling power.Previous studies have focused on modernization as the pre-determined goal and judging criteria for modern chinese fiscal development.This article takes Qingyuan County's tax operation as an example to try to analyze the conflicts caused by the “modern” fiscal reform in county-level taxation practices.It intends to find out how the government and the Baoding Chamber of Commerce negotiated on tax collection and management,especially under the informal system,using official authority and rights to achieve the regulatory order recognized by all parties,maintaining the tax operation process.On this basis,it aimes to explore the true and complicated path of China's modern fiscal reform.