The Common Program of the People's Republic of China 1949-1954

Article 40 of the Common Program



"...the first tasks set for the provincial administrations were those of tax collection and bond sales to the people, not land reform 1. These exactions (the bond sales were forced ones) caused a certain amount of unrest, even riots, and were followed by a period of economic stagnation, with some shops closing and others refusing to accept the new paper currency of the regime.2 The only arm of the new regime in evidence in most areas for some time was the PLA, and it was under its shield that taxes were collected. "
Fig. 40.1 Tax Revenue 1950-1954

Fig. 40.2 Tax Revenue 1950-1954 in %

Fig. 40.3 Major features of agricultural taxes (1953)
"In areas such as Manchuria where land reform had already been completed, grain taxes went up to support a national mobilization effort. Until the end of the war in 1953, grain taxes in Manchuria were as high as fifteen-twenty percent of total crop yield depending on the area and local conditions.208" In 1952 all local surtaxes in the agricultural tax system are abolished.

See article 37 04-06-1949 Liu Shaoqi "New China's fiscal and economic policies"
04-06-1949 Liu Shaoqi "Report on fiscal and economic policy issues"

15-06-1950 Chen Yun "The current situation and measures for readjusting industry, commerce and taxation"
zie ook 6 juni 1950 chen yun

"When the civil war was still raging in October 1949, direct military expenses alone had taken over 60% of the total fiscal expenditure of the new government. Moreover, the new government had adopted the policy of retaining the former regime’s military and government personnel who were willing to submit to the new government. In addition, the number of military, government and administrative personnel in the liberation areas had also increased from 6 million in August to 7 million in November. Such an enormous expenditure had mainly been sustained by the issuance of paper currency."
Tax paying

According to Hou (2008), tax collection during the early 1950s presented a complex and multifaceted challenge. Variations were observed across different years and Regions, as well as in the implementation of tax regulations. Prior to 1952, the agricultural tax was theoretically collected based on a fixed base, although the specific rate differed annually, being adjusted according to the party's requirements. The determination of the "should-be normal yield" (Changnian yingchan liang) for each household's land involved a democratic discussion among peasants, taking into account factors such as the amount of cultivated land, soil fertility, planting practices, and average harvests. The locally ratified figure served as the basis for determining the portion of this base number that households paid in agricultural tax each year. The tax rate ranged from 15 percent to 25 percent, depending on the specific year. Interestingly, the actual crop yield played a relatively minor role in determining the amount of taxes paid by peasants. Consequently, regardless of the claimed high yields of their land, peasants were not obligated to pay more than the predetermined fixed amount.
Hou (2008) continues "In the short term, fabricating a high yield would not cost peasants a penny; quite the contrary, if the unit yield was high enough to impress local cadres, local government was likely to reward peasants with a bonus, sometimes a draught animal or sometimes a expensive farm implement, which by no means were trivial. Furthermore, having their names known to local leaders could easily bring peasants a bunch of benefits, such as priority in obtaining government loans, being nominated as model laborers, etc. The model laborers would be provided chances to travel to the provincial capital, to Beijing, or even abroad." This changed in 1953. In 1953, the amount of tax was determined by the land owned by each family. The goal of this campaign “measure land area and determine production levels” was to maximize the amount of grain the government could collect from each peasant family. "This movement hit the newly liberated Regions particularly hard where peasants tended to have hidden a large amount of unregistered land. Old liberated Regions such as north China and northeast China where land reform had been carried out rather radically and peasants had gone through a series of political movements, the impact of the “measure land area and determine production levels” movement on peasants was relatively moderate."

Bays (1969). Pages 39-40 [↩] [Cite]
Sautin (2020). Page 175 [↩] [Cite]
Wen (2021). Pages 43-44 [↩] [Cite]
Hou (2008). Pages 104-105 [↩] [Cite]
Hou (2008). Page 105 [↩] [Cite]
Hou (2008). Page 170 [↩] [Cite]


 27-01-1950 Provisional regulations on the organization of tax bureaus at various levels in the nation
 27-01-1950 Provisional Regulations on Excise Tax
 27-01-1950 Interim Regulations on Industrial and Commercial Tax
Principal rules for carrying out tax administration throughout the country. January 27, 1950.
Provisional measures governing payment of the industrial and commercial tax by public enterprises. March 3, 1950.
Measures governing the collection of the operating license tax from street peddlers. March 15, 1950.
Notification by the Ministry of Finance regarding payment of the industrial and commercial tax by public enterprises. March. 17, 1950.
Decision of the GAC on the unified collection and payment, preservation and custody, and distribution, by the state, of the public grain contribution. March. 24, 1950.
Decision of the Ministry of Finance on the measures for handling the public grain contribution after losses caused by spoilage, insects, theft, and fire. March 20,1950.
31-03-1950 GAC Provisional Regulations on Deed Tax
Directive of the Finance and Economics Committee of the GAC regarding intensification of the work involved in the preservation and custody of the public grain contribution. April 11, 1950.
Decision of the GAC regarding the summer 1950 collection of the public grain contribution in the new liberated areas. May 30, 1950.
Decision of the GAC regarding the summer 1950 collection of the public grain contribution in the new liberated areas. May 30, 1950.
Decision of the Finance and Economics Committee of the GAC regarding a 50 percent reduction in the present tax rate for salt. June 1, 1950.
Measures of the Finance and Economics Committee of the GAC allowing compensation to the salt merchants for losses on their holdings, owing to the reduction in the tax rate for salt. June 1, 1950.
Notification by the Finance and Economics Committee of the GAC on adjustments in tax collections and their effective date. June 29, 1950.
Directive of the Finance and Economics Committee of the GAC on organizing the work of shipping the summer collection of the public grain contribution to storage places. July, 1950.
 05-09-1950 CPGC Interim Regulations on Agricultural Tax in the New Liberated Area
 10-09-1950 Instructions Concerning the Collection of Agricultural Taxes in the New Liberated Areas
Provisions of the Ministry of Finance regarding the setting of standards for the measurement of land and the size of the expected yearly crop for agricultural tax purposes. September 16, 1950.
 19-12-1950 Provisional regulations on Slaughter Tax of the People’s Republic of China
 19-12-1950 Provisional Regulations on Interest Income Tax
Provisional regulations for tax stamps. December 19, 1950.
Provisional regulations for income tax on interest and dividends. December 19, 1950.
General rules governing the organization of democratic deliberation committees on industrial and commercial taxes. December 19, 1950.
General rules governing the organization of tax review committees. December 19,1950.
 16-01-1951 Interim Regulations for the tax on Special Consumption activities
Decision of the GAC regarding fees for documents designating ownership of land and buildings. February 12, 1951.
 01-05-1951 Interim Customs Law of the People
Directive of the GAC regarding the work involved in collecting the public grain contribution in the summer of 1951. May 25, 1951.
Directive of the GAC regarding the work involved in collecting the 1951 agricultural tax. June 21, 1951.
Outline for carrying out the work of surveying and assessing farm land in connection with the agricultural tax. July 5, 1951.
08-08-1951 Provisional regulations governing the urban real estate tax
19-08-1951 Provisional Regulations on Budget and Final Accounts
Provisional regulations for the license tax on vehicles and ships. September 13, 1951.
Decree of the Finance and Economics Committee of the GAC regarding a revision of the standard for the range of price fluctuation in determining excise tax rates. March 4, 1954.
Directive of the Finance and Economics Committee of the GAC regarding the timely strengthening of the methods of preservation and custody of the public grain contribution in order to avoid spoilage by dampness and mold. March 21, 1952.
Directive of the GAC regarding the work of collecting the agricultural tax in 1952. June 16, 1952.
Measures governing the reduction of or exemption from the agricultural tax levied on disaster-stricken rural families. August 14, 1952.
General notice issued by the Finance and Economics Committee of the GAC regarding certain revisions of the tax system and their effective date. December 31, 1952.
Experimental measures governing the commodity circulation tax. December 31, 1952.
Measures for tax reduction or exemption in the disaster areas of Anhwei, Honan, Kiangsu, Shantung, Shansi, and other provinces. May 23, 1953.
Directive of the GAC regarding the work pertaining to the 1953 agricultural tax. August 28, 1953.



24-11-1949: 1st National Tax Conference
06-10-1952 - 21-10-1952: Second National Conference on Agricultural Work
13-06-1953 - 12-8-1953: National conference on financial and economic work
Chapter 4 of Common Program