Land Tax Reform Law of 1873
Land Tax Reform Law of 1873
The land tax is now reformed. All former regulations concerning the offerings from paddies and fields are abolished, and as soon as the examination of title deeds is over a new land tax is to be fixed at three per cent of land value. . . .Land Tax Reform Act
Article I. As the present land tax reform is a difficult task, a thorough factual investigation based on repeated examinations should be made. However, since there are various degrees of difficulty in making examinations of land depending on the type of land, it is natural that the reform cannot be completed simultaneously in all regions, and so rapid success is not necessarily required. It should be understood that as soon as the prospectus for carrying out detailed adjustment is made it should be presented to the Ministry of Finance for requesting of permission, after which the former tax law will be abolished and the new one come into force.
However, even though the adjustment is not yet complete within an administrative area, any portion where the investigation is over, be it a district (gun) or ward (ku), may put it into effect.
Article II. On completion of the land tax reform the tax is to be levied on the value of the land proper; thus it is not to be increased even in a year of good harvest, nor to be the least decreased in a lean year.
Article III. When changes of the land take place due to natural calamities, examinations of the site will be made and, according to the degree of damage, the tax is to be exempted either for that year or for the amount of years required for recovery. . . .
Article VI. Land tax has in the past been confused with commodity taxes, housing tax, etc. ; after the reform it is to be clearly distinguished from them. . . . Since commodity taxes on tea, tobacco, wood, and so forth will gradually be issued from now on, thus producing an increase in annual income, when the income exceeds two million yen the land tax for already assessed land will gradually be diminished in proportion to the increase in income from the newly levied taxes, till it ultimately comes to one per cent of the land value.
Article VII. Until the land tax reform is completely enforced the former law is naturally still in effect. Therefore, complaints heretofore made concerning unfairness of taxes are to be completely ignored, except in cases where the tax burdens are manifestly unfair. However, land already examined is to be regarded as assessed land, and assessed land can according to circumstances receive tax exemptions by means of request for exemption—all according to established practices.
Context.
After coming to power in 1868, the Meiji government was faced with a huge and expensive challenge in creating a modern, centralized political system. In the early years, when officials depended overwhelmingly on land taxes to run the government, they were also plagued by the confusion of tax practices that for centuries had varied from region to region, and from year to year. The new tax law in 1873 was intended to bring order and predictability both to farmers and to the government. It did not, however, end the overwhelming reliance on the rural sector for public revenue—with roughly a third of farm income typically going to taxes. The rate was decreased from 3 percent to 2.5 percent in 1877, but much of Japan’s farm population still suffered mightily under the tax burden, especially in times of recession such as the 1880s.
Questions.
1. From reading this law, what can you tell about the nature of tax practices prior to 1873?
2. What was the value, both to farmers and to the government, of making the tax rate the same each year, regardless of weather and crop yields? Why might some farmers have opposed this?
3. What evidence does this law provide that officials were aware of the undue reliance on the rural sector for government finance?
Terms.
Land tax. A tax based on the assessed value of rural land; it was the main source of Japanese government revenue in the 1800s. Other types of taxes include commodity or sales taxes (e.g., taxes on the sale of goods such as tea and tobacco), property taxes, and income taxes.
Source: Meiji Japan Through Contemporary Sources, Vol. III. Tokyo: Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies, 1972, 10-12.
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