Long Term Causes - The Taxation System Flashcards
How does a good government benefit greatly from an efficient taxation system?
It provides it with an adequate income
What was the taxation system in France like?
Chaotic, inefficient and incomplete
What system were taxes collected by?
Tax farming
Tax farming
A system where the government agrees a tax assessment figure for an area, which is then collected by private individuals or companies that bids for the right to collect it in return for a share of the income
How many tax-farmers gathered indirect taxes?
40
Example of a company that collected indirect taxes
The Farmers-General
What was the largest employer in France after the King’s army and navy?
The Farmers-General
How many men were employed by the Farmers-General?
30,000
Why was the Farmers-General one of the most hated institutions in France?
Ruthless, greedy, corrupt, subjective
How much did each group of tax-farmers pay the government?
Up to 80 million livres for a 6-year lease
In good economic times of high production and trading levels, how much did some tax-farmers make?
Several million livres a year
What could tax-farmers afford to buy?
Grand homes, venal offices, noble titles
What could tax-farmers not buy?
Respect
Many attributed the nation’s financial woes not to the King or his ministers but to what?
The greed and corruption of the farmer-generals
How did the farmer-generals generate a profit?
Paying the State an agreed sun and keeping anything collected above this figure
As a result of tax-farming, what did the French government never receive enough of?
Money from taxes to cover its expenditure
Due to the government not receiving enough taxes, what did it have to do to cover its expenditure?
Borrow money
What became an increasingly large part of government spending in the 18th century?
Interest rate payments on its debt
Where did most royal income come from?
Taxes
Why was not enough royal income generated from taxation?
The system of exemption - the nobles, the King’s richest subjects, were exempt from most taxes
Regional differences meant tax collection was both chaotic and incomplete
Tax collection was inefficient because it was done by tax-farmers, a system encouraging graft, corruption and tax avoidance
Many of the taxes were collected by officials who had bought the right to hold their positions. What was this system called?
Venality
Venality
The sale and purchase of certain jobs
Why could those holding venal offices not be dismissed?
They had bought the right to hold their positions
What did the taxpayers know that much of their tax paid never reached?
The treasury
Who did Louis appoint as Controller-General of Finances?
Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot
When did Louis XVI appoint Turgot?
1774
Whose ideas were Turgot influenced by?
Physiocrats and the philosophes
Who were the physiocrats?
Economists who believed that the wealth of the nation came solely from agriculture and that all state regulations, tolls and price controls should be ended
What did Turgot abolish?
Trade guilds, the corvée and price controls
Guilds
Organisations that tightly control entry into a trade
Corvée
Unpaid labour service to maintain roads. In many places money replaced the service
What did Turgot try to reform?
The taxation system
Who did Turgot’s attempts at reform of the tax system spark protests from?
Privileged classes
Parlements
Parlements
The 13 high courts of final appeal of the judicial system that were independent of the king
What did the parlements consist of?
A dozen or more judges in each
1,100 judges nationwide
Parlements typically wielded much power over a wide range of subject matter, particularly what?
Taxation
What were not official until the parlements gave their assent by publishing them in their respective areas?
Laws and edicts issued by the Crown
Who were members of parlements?
Nobles of the robe
When did Turgot leave office due to Louis withdrawing his support?
12th May 1776
What did the issue of taxation create among the Third Estate due to them bearing the burden of taxation?
Resentment
