行业生存与税制改进:上海华界卷烟特税风潮研究(1923—1926)

Industry Survival and Tax System Improvement:Research on Cigarette Special Tax Trend of Chinese-controlled Areas of Shanghai(1923-1926)

1923年,江苏省当局以抵补教育经费为借口开征卷烟营业特税。此税在上海华界的实施异常艰难,卷烟业的反对贯穿整个征收过程,并激起三次大的停业风潮,但政府强硬的态度使得税收稽征总体上按照计划推行。在风潮中,同业商人团体内部的自我认同意识使其同力反抗,并形成了以行业生存为主体的利益话语支撐体系,其中行业内部税负转嫁及大同业与政府之间的权益交换也是不容忽视的问题。虽政府依据包税数额高低频繁改换包商,但该税的征收实践为卷烟统税的实施奠定了一定基础,促进了近代中国税制的改进。

In 1923. the Jiangsu provincial government started to levy special tax on cigarette businessunder the pretext of compensating educational expenses. The implementation of this tax inChinese-controlled Areas of Shanghai was extremely difficult. The opposition of the cigaretteindustry ran through the whole process of levying the tax, and aroused three times of greatsuspensions. However, the tough attitude of the government made the tax levy generallyimplemented according to its plan. In the turmoil, the self-identity consciousness within the groupof traders has caused them to resist and form a support system of interest discourse that is basedon industry survival. The transfer of internal tax burdens and the exchange of interests betweenthe big industry and the government are also problems that cannot be ignored. Although thegovernment changed the contractor frequently according to the tax amount, the practice ofcollecting the tax laid a certain foundation for the implementation of the cigaree unified tax andpromoted the improvement of the tax system in modern China.