The tax system of Ancient Russia was quite complex and was divided into three types of income: judicial, commercial and taxable.
Taxable income
Taxes (tribute, mistress, polyudy, lesson or quitrent, vein, honor and wagon) are monetary taxes levied on the dependent population of Russia until the mid-19th century. Social groups that paid this type of tax were called the taxable population. From the middle of the 19th century, taxes were replaced by other types of taxes and were already levied on the entire population of Russia.
The collection of taxes was carried out in accordance with the principles that provided the opportunity to predict how much this or that area will bring. This indicates that princely taxes were approved by law and levied according to certain rules, which characterizes the level of development of the then society as high.
If at the initial stage of the development of the tax system taxes were paid by all payers in the same way, for example, tribute and friendliness, then over time they began to be charged on income and property - this is a wagon, a rent, and others.
The tax system, based on the collection of taxes on income or capital, indicates the existence of a cadastral system in the state containing information on incomes of the population. Otherwise, the government would not be able to build quantitative forecasts of its revenues.
Types of taxes
- Tribute - originally gathered from the yard (from smoke). It was later levied on the "abdomen" or "fishing."
- Polyud - was originally a gift to the prince when he went around the regions. Later it took the form of tribute, which allowed to determine its size in advance.
- Istuzhnitsa is a tax on taxes, of which only one mention was found in the annals, from which we can conclude that its size was determined by the prince in advance.
- Lesson or quitrent - types of duties and duties that were transferred to the land and taken in money or goods instead of serving some kind of duty. Appointed immediately to the entire region, and the communities did the layout on land.
- Honor - a gift that was attached to the quitrent. Its size was also determined in advance.
- Vienna - duty to the treasury from marriages. It was paid by the family of the bride and groom.
- A wagon is a duty in ancient Russia, and not a lodge. County residents had to deliver carts and guides for state needs. This service could be given in money and it gradually became a tax. At first, the name was “cart”, it was preserved, and after that it began to be called “pit money”. When the coachman class was formed, the state built the settlements for them on the highways with the money raised.