晚清杂税与杂捐之别刍论——兼论杂捐与地方财政的形成

The Distinction Between Miscellaneous Taxes( zashui) and Fees( zajuan) of the Late Qing——The Discussion on the Relationship Between Miscellaneous Fees and the Formation of Modern Local Government Budgets in China

咸丰以后,特别是光绪年间,各项财政支出剧增,财政收入变态性增加,新增杂税、杂捐不断涌现。晚清杂税与杂捐的征收是一个突出的现象,关系到财政与社会的方方面面。对于晚清新增的杂税、杂捐税种,一般认为,杂税与杂捐同类异名,且有对杂税、杂捐认识混淆的现象。从广义上讲,晚清的杂税与杂捐可以归为"杂税"一类,但杂税与杂捐毕竟有诸多不同:一是杂税的名目较为单一,命名正式,杂捐则往往名目繁杂,命名随意。二是杂税的征收,一般要经过户部的批准,杂捐的征收,大多由地方各州县议定。三是杂税的征收较为规范,具有相对稳定性,杂捐的征收则具有随意性,多呈现纷乱之象。四是杂税一般由地方统一征收汇解上缴,大多属于中央财政或国家税性质,杂捐则多为地方征收,并为地方所用,大多属于地方财政或地方税性质。

Since the Xianfeng(1850-1861)period,and particularly during the Guangxu(1875-1908)period,the Qing empire faced an drastic increase in government expenditure,and responded with an abrupt increase of new financial revenues,generally in the form of new miscellaneous taxes(雜稅zashui)and fees(雜捐zajuan).This was a notable feature of the era,with influences over all aspects of the late Qing society and governance.Researchers usually treat zashui and zajuan as synonyms,or do not clearly distinguish between them.While both were miscellaneous sources of government income,zashui and zajuan are not the same:first,zashui tended to be fewer in number and more formal in naming,while zajuan were more likely to be numerous trivial items,sloppily named;second,the imposition of zashui generally required approval by the Ministry of Revenue,while zajuan were mostly the work of local governments;third,the charging of zashui followed more proper procedures and were comparatively less volatile,while zajuan were arbitrarily created and constantly changing;fourth,zashui were handed over to the central government,and should be considered national taxes or incomes of the state in the modern nomenclature,while zajuan were generally levied and utilized by local governments,as local taxes or local financial incomes.Due to these differences in how they were levied and used,zajuan played an important role in the genesis and formation of local government budgets in the late Qing period.