The Evolution of Estate Tax System Thought in the Republic of China (1912-1949): From Divided Inheritance Tax System to Total Inheritance Tax System

Xia Guoxiang

Journal of Finance and Economics Vol. 42, Issue 05, pp. 99 - 110 (2016)  DOI:10.16538/j.cnki.jfe.2016.05.009

Abstract

Estate tax system thought in modern China which was initiated in late Qing Dynasty evolved the development in the period of the Beiyang government, and at the earlier & later stages of the Nationalist government in Nanjing, presenting the obvious stage-based characteristic and finally promoting the implementation of estate tax system in modern China. This paper considers the activities of the thought circle and government policy decisions, and systematically sorts out the development process of estate tax system thought in the Republic of China (1912-1949) and its characteristics. It arrives at the conclusions as follows: firstly, the thought circle in discussion of the construction of the estate tax system followed the three principles: the principle of fairness, national conditions principle and feasibility principle; secondly, the evolution process of estate tax system thought in the Republic of China (1912-1949) was a process of a tradeoff between fairness and feasibility from the perspective of national conditions; thirdly, as for the choice of estate tax system mode, before the mid-1930s, divided inheritance tax system was advocated in the thought circle,and at the later stage of the Nationalist government in Nanjing, total inheritance tax system was finally recognized by most people. Thus the evolution process of estate tax system thought in the Republic of China (1912-1949) is a transition process from paying attention to fairness to stressing feasibility, reflecting that estate tax system thought in the Republic of China (1912-1949) has matured. This paper not only expands and deepens the research of the fiscal thoughts of modern China, but also provides a useful reference for the construction of current estate tax system in China.

Keywords

the Republic of China (1912-1949); estate tax system thought; fairness; feasibility; evolution