Taxes

**Question**: How did the system of taxation in the hierarchical society of the Old Regime change during the French Revolution?

**Taxes**
**__1. Introduction__** A tax, in its literal sense, is often defined as a financial contribution to a state’s annual income levied by the government. It could be regarded as the fundamental supporting mechanism for government infrastructures or projects. Not suprisingly, an unbalanced tax structure most likely leads to protests or revolts.

**__2. During The Old Regime__**  2.1 //Background// France was at the brink of bankruptcy after its participation in a series of wars: the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years’ War and the American Revolutionary War. Consequently, France was desperate to pull in sufficient revenue from taxation to pay off the debt.



 2.2 //Taxation by Estates// During the Old Regime, the tax rate, or the percent of income paid in taxes, greatly differed between different social strata. There were three estates, or social classes in pre-revolutionary France: the First Estate, comprising of priests and religious leaders, the Second Estate, or the nobility, and the Third Estate, composed of commoners and the middle classes.  2.3. //The First and Second Estates// The First and Second Estates altogether controlled massive amounts of land and capital. Nevertheless, they were essentially exempt from taxes, a long-honored European tradition since the collapse of the Roman Empire. 

2.4 //The Third Estate// On the other hand, members of the Third Estate paid nearly half of their incomes as taxes. Apart from regular taxes, they paid other mandatory taxes including the taille and tithes. Taille was imposed on every non-noble or non-clergy land. People were also obliged to tithe, or pay 10% of their incomes to the Catholic Church.

**__3. Failure of Tax Reforms__** Two finance ministers, Charles Alexandre de Calonne and Jacques Necker, made attempts to reform such inequitable system of taxation. They proposed reforms to levy a fair amount of taxes on the privilged, but their finanical plans met fierce opposition. Both were dismissed in 1787 and 1789, respectively. All other efforts were to no avail. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">**__4. During The French Revolution__** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;"> 4.1 //Overview// <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Shortly after the French Revolution initiated on July 14, 1789, the system of taxation transformed miraculously. The members and the representatives of the Third Estate were taking actions. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;"> 4.2 //The Peasants// <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">The peasants no longer paid taxes to the nobles and the Church. Some tried to retrieve taxes they had recently paid in the form of grain. They even assaulted tax offices. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;"> 4.3 //The Bourgeois// <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">The influential, productive middle classes had assumed the highest taxes. They despised this unfair system. Thus, they were motivated for radicalization. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;"> 4.4 //The National Assembly// <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">The self-made convention of the Third Estate banned tax exemptions and tithes in 1789. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">On September 3, 1791, the National Assembly adopted the first written consitution of France. The second clause of Title I states:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">//That all taxes shall be assessed equally upon all citizens, in proportion to their means;//

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">From that point on, the higher your pay-to-ability was, the greater tax you paid. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">The idea of a progressive tax system was born in France.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Resources**

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