The tax burden of peasants in the Ukrainian SSR in 1923–1929: socio-economic discourse

Abstract

The article reveals socio-economic content of the tax burden of the Ukrainian SSR in 1923-192. The emphasis is placed on historiographic discourse of the coverage of tax policy in the Ukrainian SSR in the 1920's and the lack of researches on specific phenomena such as “socio-economic phenomenon as the “tax burden» of peasants.

The specifics of the "tax burden" of the peasants are reflected not only in the statistics and economic values of the withdrawn tax, but also in the real socio-economic differentiation of peasant farms, in property inequality and, in solvency. The sectoral approach is used to analyze the distribution of the tax burden on each peasant's household, taking into account its income, material condition, sectoral ratio. By revealing the evolution of the tax burden during the second half of the 1920's, which is the apogee of the NEP, its social and economic efficiency for peasant farms is revealed.

Analyzing the statistical-economic dimension of the “burden», it is stated that more than half of the peasant farms in Ukraine appeared to be tax-able. The rest was taxed on the so-called “non-taxable minimum», or was exempted from tax. However, the financial commitment was distributed “per household», so the tax pressure had socio-economic features.

The main taxpayers were middle-wealth villagers who felt the particular tax pressure from political and tax authorities. With each tax campaign, the total amount of tax has increased, and the social tax burden on the peasant's household has increased by 100%, even without taking into account the class-based approach while forming expert taxation. Farms with 6 to 15 acres were 40.1% of the total amount of the tax payers, farms with 15 acres or more - 16%, so the "tax burden" is obvious.
The socioeconomic and moral-psychological components of the "tax burden" were perceived by the peasants negatively, as 10-13% tax per the household was rather big. The peasant family was aware that the amount of tax meant depriving them of several pairs of boots, dairy cow, a 1/3 more of the harvest, farming tools. Under these conditions, the statistical-economic dimension of the "burden" turned into a social-mental, since the owner knew better times when taxes were lower.
The tax burden on wealthy groups of peasants was found in the Bolshevik social benefits, as the poorest households were freed from taxes. In 1926/27 21.9% of all taxpayers were freed from taxes as the poorest, in 1928/29 they were 35%, and therefore their tax burden was transferred to wealthy “kulak» elements.

The article also reflects the differences in the amount of tax in the economic-natural regions of Ukraine, shifting the tax burden from the northern regions to the south-eastern.