Polijas-Lietuvas (Žečpospoļitas) Inflantijas vojevodistes (1677-1772) nodokļu un ienākumu jautājums

ENThe data for the late 17th century and the beginning of 18th century shows that Inflanty was sparsely populated, thus, the financial input from this province was very small. The burden of the taxes for the nobles of the Polish­Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita) was negligible compared to other European countries. This made Rzeczpospolita attractive to peasants fleeing from Russia. The nobles of Inflanty, in order to reduce the already small taxes, always emphasized that the province had suffered a lot in Great Northern War 1700‒1721, that the number of its permanent residents scant and it was vulnerable to Russia. On the last point, szlachta of Inflanty underlined that they had to pay taxes for the army, while Inflanty remained without any military protection. At the beginning of the 18th century, not the corvee, but money payments (rent; czynsz) prevailed. In the course of the 18th century, this picture became more balanced with the owners who emphasized corvee. Knowing the amount of taxes paid by Inflanty to the treasury of Lithuania, the treasury could estimate the amount of Inflanty’s income, but the information from manor inventories of 1730s are fragmentary. Nevertheless, the amount of taxes paid was linked to the number of laborers, rather than the quantity or quality of the land. After 1764, the Enlightenment influenced state­level financial reforms, which yielded an idea of the potential profitability of Inflanty, although the collected amount fell far short of the planned. Perhaps a compromise was reached – the nobles agreed to pay more than before, but managed to cancel hearth and alcohol tax. Kwarta tax (quarter from the income of Crown estates (eldership; starostwo) managed by local szlachta) and hibernatax (army winter quarters) were retained.There was the tax which was calculated from the income reported by the szlachta itself and thus the szlachta determined how much of its income to report and, therefore, how much tax it would pay. The audits of elderships, managed by the most influential nobles of this province (starosta), were carried out by local nobles. The anti­monarchist and anti­Russian Bar confederates (members of the uprising) in 1768‒1772, being conversant with the local financial situation, collected considerable sums from the nobles, who could afford to pay taxes to the state and Russians, as well. An important source of income for the elderships was the rent of land and especially taverns, whose income until 1765 was not considered. Another source of income was the transit via the Daugava River – the export artery of wood and grain from Belarus to Riga. After the First Partition of Poland (1772), Inflanty became part of Russia, and the new authorities provide probably the most complete picture of the financial potential of Inflanty (it was more prosperous than thought).The significant differences in the reported tax for the 1730s, 1765 and 1772 show that a notable part of the income remained under the control of local szlachta. A further research could explore whether and how it was influenced by Inflanty nobles from Borch, Hylzen or Plater families who held high positions in the state administration. Keywords: Inflanty (Polish Livonia), economy, kwarta tax, hearth tax, hyberna, Jan Andrzej Borch. [From the publication]