October, 1911.] 



357 



Miscellaneous, 



however, involved less injustice than 

 Would appear at first sight, as all people 

 in the parish knew each other, and were 

 acquainted with each other's financial 

 position. 



The growth of the local expenses and 

 the taxes is shown by the figures lor 

 1892 and 1902, the year before the reform 

 of taxation. (The financial year for the 

 parish is January 1 to December 31 ; for 

 the country, April 1 to March 31.) 





Expenses. 



Land Tax. 



Income Tax. 



Year. 



Value in 

 1,000,000 

 Kr. 



Value in l,OO0Z. 



Value in 

 1,000,000 

 Kr. 



Value 

 in 



i,ooo;. 



Value in 

 1,000,000 

 Kr. 



Value 



in 

 1,0002. 



1892 

 1902 



23 to 24 

 30 31 



1,280 to 1.330 

 1,670 1,720 



4-12 

 134 



690 

 740 



4-3 

 6 6 



240 

 370 



The increase Of the local expenditure 

 had for many years given rise to discus- 

 sion, both outside and inside Parliament, 

 and the suggestion which met with 

 approval generally was that the best 

 manner of relieving the local tax-payers 

 was to transfer the greater part of the 

 existing State land taxes and State 

 building tax to the local bodies. In the 

 end, however, these State taxes were 

 entirely abolished. 



State Taxation prior to 1903,— A review 

 of the former direct State taxation of 

 Denmark will enable us better to under- 

 stand the motives for this radical 

 change. The entries of receipts in the 

 State accounts for the financial year 

 1902-03 show under the heading " Direct" 

 the following figures : — 



Value in 

 1,000,000 Kr. 



Value in 

 1,0002. 

 270 

 90 

 10 



Old land tax ... 5 



New ,, ... 1*7 



"Assessed tax" ... 0-2 

 Building tax in — 



Rural districts 11 60 



Copenhagen ... 1*6 90 



Other towns ... 1-4 80 



"Title tax" ... 0'1 5 



Total ... 11*1 605 



Ten years earlier the total was 

 9,800,000 kr. (54.0,0002.), the yield of the 

 building tax being 2,800,000 kr. (150,0002.). 

 instead of 4,100,000 kr. (230,0002.). The 

 proceeds from the other taxes were 

 about the same. 



The "Assessed tax "was not paid by 

 the inhabitants, but by the muncipali- 

 ties ; it was abolished by the reform in 

 1903. The " Title tax " is paid by persons 

 upon whom a certain rank had been 

 conferred. 



The three remaining taxes are :— 



(1) The old land tax (" Gammels- 

 katten"), based on the productive power 

 of the land, such as had been fixed by a 



valuation in 1688. As pointed out in 

 Mr. MacDonell's report, the " Gammel- 

 skat" was not in reality a tax, but a 

 fixed ground rent similar to the old 

 English land tax. 



(2) The new land tax ("Land-og 

 Ligningsskatten "), also based on the 

 productive power of the ground, but in 

 accordance with the same valuation 

 (from the beginning of the nineteenth 

 century) as that on which the local land 

 tax was assessed. 



(3) The building tax on buildings in 

 and outside the cities which were not 

 used for agricultural purposes. 



Of the 10,800,000 kr. (600,0002.) to which 

 the three taxes amounted, the rural 

 districts paid about 7,500,000 kr. (420,0002.). 



Tithes, — Besides these sums, the tithes 

 in their different forms yielded 6,000,000 

 to 7,000,000 kr. (330,0002. to 390,0002.) 

 annually. The tithes originated about 

 the year 1000, and have now become 

 entirely obsolete. It would take too 

 long to discuss them in detail ; it is 

 sufficient to mention that (a) the tithes 

 are now all commuted into fixed yearly 

 rents ; (6) the townspeople and about a, 

 fourth of the farming class do not pay 

 tithes ; and (c) the burden of this 

 " tax " falls very unequally on the tax- 

 paying farmers. On the other hand the 

 tithes, in their present shape, cannot be 

 regarded as public taxes, as many of 

 them are private property, and from the 

 fact of their unequal assessment are 

 in reality ground rents. Nevertheless, 

 great dissatisfaction has always pre- 

 vailed amongst the peasants owing to 

 "peasant land" only having to pay 

 tithes, although the buying and selling 

 of the land has undoubtedly tended to 

 do away with the supposed injustice. 



{To be continued.) 



