从杂税加征视角论清代财政非正式制度的表现

The financial informal function in Qing Dynasty from the perspective of the increased miscellaneous taxes

杂税是清代财政结构中的传统项目,多以定额征收。清代前期杂税虽遍征于全国,但相较于其他传统赋税项目如田赋、盐税及常关税来说,杂税征收数额过低。在这一阶段,杂税虽在财政吃紧状况下有过临时性加征的情况,但总体来说杂税在财政体系中并不占据重要地位。然而,自咸丰军兴伊始,随着内忧外患不断加剧,清政府的财政危机也日益加深。为应付异常严峻的财政状况,清代传统赋税项目被不同程度地加征,杂税也在其中。然而因清代赋税深受“原额主义”限制,故田赋虽是清代的大宗赋税,其加征空间却受限,不能满足日益扩大的财政需求。在“原额主义”制约下,杂税也难以实现在全国范围内进行统一的大幅度加征。为缓解巨大的财政压力,清政府选择将赋税摊派至地方,各省只得征收经制外赋税以平衡财政需求。因此清代后期于杂税之外另征杂捐。随着赋税压力的增大,杂捐的数量也呈现井喷式增长。杂捐虽是清代传统经制外的赋税项目,但这一杂税的衍生物却对杂税总额的提升大有裨益。由此,杂税在清代财政体系中的重要性也日益显现,成为清代后期重要的税收项目。文章力图通过梳理清代常规赋税因受“原额主义”限制而无法大幅加征时,清政府为应对财政危机借助加征经制外赋税的办法来提升税收总额的历史过程。文章以杂税为研究对象,通过对杂税加征困境缘由的探究以及该困境纾解办法的提出——征收杂捐,来讨论清代社会受财政压力驱使通过征收经制外的非正式税款来提升赋税总额用以补充正式税款的情况。文章力图通过杂税加征这一视角来探究清代非正式制度对正式制度的补充作用,同时也希望通过对这一作用的讨论来对杂税和清代财政的互动关系进行深入解读。

Miscellaneous taxes, by fixed amount, were a traditional fiscal revenue in the Qing Dynasty. In the early period of the Qing Dynasty, the amount of miscellaneous taxes imposed was low compared with the land tax or the salt tax or the tariff, though imposed over the country and sometimes levied more, so that it didn’t play important role in the finance in Qing Dynasty. However, the government’s financial situation was worsened, on account of the crisis of the domestic turmoil and foreign aggression deepened after the Taiping Rebellion. In order to meet the needs of financial expenditure, the traditional levies were added in different degrees, including the miscellaneous taxes, while which was limited by the fixed amount, so that the traditional taxes, the miscellaneous taxes included, couldn’t be levied as much as it should be. To deal with the ever-increasing financial needs, the Qing government transferred the financial pressure the provinces, in order to meet the financial needs, a new miscellaneous levies started by the provinces, as a sort of non-conventional miscellaneous taxes, which promoted the whole amount of the miscellaneous taxes. This paper attempts to examine the process of collecting the non-conventional miscellaneous taxes to meet the financial needs, when traditional taxes couldn’t be imposed, in order to discuss the difficulties and the solutions of the increase of the miscellaneous taxes, and to discuss the informal institution supplemented to the formal institution in Qing Dynasty.