learned to be customary in Prussia. And even with all these rigorous and stringent methods, it is questionable, to judge from the fiscal results, whether the frauds and evasions are appreciably less than in England. Taking it all in all, however, the German income tax, which, as in England, has been the slow product of a long evolution, must be pronounced a decided success. It is accepted by the people; it has become indispensable to the government. Its methods of assessment are, on the whole, in conformity with public opinion, the honest taxpayer has but little to fear from even the most rigorous officials, and the tax now constitutes not only an important, but an increasingly important, part of the general tax system. APPENDIX Arranged from pp. 38, 572, 575, 576, 724, of the Denkschriftenband referred to supra, p. 261. In marks, ooo omitted except in column 5. nue Total Income Supple-Income Per Popula Total Cent of tion in 1905, 000 omitted Income Direct Tax 3,319,535 287,369 240,000 44,000 6.44 70.22 15,148 | 423,312 | 244.766 1,816 37,584 288 Würtemburg Baden 387,419 60,595 51,575 4,005 | 11.44 | 73.31 Hesse 114,925 14,298 10,860 3,355 8.98 54.37 27,799 4,743 3,219 6.36 59.08 182 3,890 2,924 4.95 65.44 56 1,238 1,027 6.19 61.78 49 773 649 205 679 71.30 59 1,079 921 › About three-fourths of the entire local revenue. Out of a total revenue of all local divisions in the empire of 3138 millions of marks, the localities of over 10,000 population had a revenue of 2393 millions. CHAPTER II THE INCOME TAX IN FRANCE Preliminary THE fiscal work of the Revolution consisted in substituting for the personal taxes of the ancien régime a system of socalled real taxes, or taxes on product. The abuses, inequalities, and privileges connected with the old methods had been so potent a cause of the Revolution that the very first step was to make a clean sweep of the entire existing system. It was hoped at first, somewhat under the influence of the Physiocratic doctrines, to defray all the public expenditures by a new system of direct taxes alone; but this proved to be impossible, and one by one the indirect taxes, in a modified and improved form indeed and largely denuded of their old abuses, were gradually reintroduced. So far, however, as the direct taxes were concerned, it was universally conceded that all excuse for inquisition and for arbitrariness must be avoided; and as a consequence a system of taxation was elaborated, based primarily on the thing to be taxed and not on the person of the taxpayer. The system of direct taxation which was created in the last decade of the eighteenth century exists with slight modification to-day. It comprises four principal imposts: the real estate tax (contribution foncière), including both land and buildings; the business tax (patentes); the door and window tax (contribution des portes et fenêtres); and the personal and personal property tax (contribution personnelle et mobilière).1 1 The fullest account of the details of the French system at present is found in Traité de l'Impôt Direct, by Marcel Trélat, in collaboration with Corneille Berget and Dessart. 2 vols., Paris, 1902. A shorter account will be found in Cours Elémentaire de Science des Finances et de Législation Financière Française, by Gaston Jèze. Paris, new ed., 1909. The real estate tax is divided into two parts, the land and the building tax. The land tax is levied on the assumed net produce of the land as determined by a periodical survey and valuation (cadastre). Since it is a tax on the produce of the land and not on the income of the owner, mortgage debts are not deducted. The other part of the real estate tax which falls upon buildings is assessed according to their rental value. The business tax is designed to hit the profits of the business, but it is levied only according to outward signs or presumptions, such as the rent paid for the business premises, the number of clerks, the size of the town,.etc. The door and window tax is imposed on all openings for doors or windows, and is presumed to reach the ability of the individual indirectly in three ways: hitting in some cases the owner of the house, in others the occupant of the dwelling, and in still others the proprietors of the business conducted on the premises. The personal and personal property tax consists of two elements: The first (contribution personnelle) is a kind of poll tax, fixed originally at a sum equivalent to three days' wages, and varying since 1830 in different parts of the country, from one and a half to four and a half francs. The other portion of the tax, on movables or personal property (contribution mobilière), is a tax on house rent (loyer d'habitation according to the valeur locative). These were the original four taxes, all of them, as is seen, being imposed on the thing rather than on the person. With the growth of corporate wealth, and especially with the increased fiscal needs of the government after the reverses of 1870, the system of taxes on product was rounded out by a tax on securities or on corporations (impôt sur les valeurs mobilières). This tax was originally imposed in 1872 at the rate of three per cent on the interest, dividends, and other income of corporations and associations, and is advanced by them, being deducted from the sums payable to the security holders. In 1890 the rate was raised to four per cent. The local revenues in France, finally, are raised chiefly by additions (centimes additionels) to the four taxes on product. |