Mokesčių administravimo istorija : 1918-1940 m.

LTMonografijoje atskleidžiama Lietuvos valstybės mokesčių sistema ir mokesčių administravimo politika 1918-1940 m. Pristatomos Lietuvos Tarybos, seimų ir vyriausybės pastangos sukurti mokesčių sistemą ir ją įteisinti teisės aktais iki 1924 m., ir vėlesnės intencijos ją tobulinti. Buvo suformuota tiesioginių, netiesioginių mokesčių bei rinkliavų sistema, turėjusi užtikrinti pajamas į valstybės biudžetą. Mokesčių administravimas buvo patikėtas Finansų ministerijos Mokesčių departamentui, kuriam teko atsakomybė nustatyti, surinkti, išieškoti mokesčius, skirti baudas ir išaiškinti nusižengimus. Išsamiau aptariami Mokesčių departamento veiklos principai, mokesčių inspektorių ir akcizo kontrolierių darbo sąlygos, jų santykiai su mokesčių mokėtojais, savivaldos ir policijos atstovais. [Anotacija knygoje]Reikšminiai žodžiai: 20 amžius; Lietuvos Respublika 1918–1940 m.; Mokesčiai; Mokesčių administravimas; Mokesčių departamentas; Mokesčių išieškojimas; Mokesčių politika; Mokesčių įstatymai; Policija; Savivalda; Lithuania in 1818-1940; Municipality; Police; Recovering of unpaid taxes; Republic of Lithuania in 1918–1940; Tax Department; Tax administration; Tax laws; Tax policy; Taxes.

ENThe history of taxes dates back to the appearance of the first states as there was a need to exercise governmental functions and maintain government institutions. When Lithuania declared its independence in 1918, it was important to ensure the country’s financial stability. On March 5,1919, the Lithuanian Government issued a "Tax Order" and introduced four major state mandated taxes: a land tax, a tax on commercial and industrial establishments, a property tax, and a simple stamp duty. On July 5, an excise duty was introduced on alcohol and tobacco. There was no delay in the establishment of the tax administration system. The law passed on November 14, 1919 provided that all state mandated taxes were set by law, the chief tax inspector was the Ministry of Finance, and local tax inspectors, their assistants, tax commissions, and excise controllers were to work locally. The Tax Department established under the Ministry of Finance was entrusted with the administration of taxes and Mr. Leonardas Tulauskas was appointed its head. This monograph reveals the activities of the Tax Department of the Ministry of Finance in the administration of state mandated taxes, in cooperation with the municipality and the police. A detailed analysis of archival sources, documents of the Seimas, and historiography reveals the hitherto unknown history of the Tax Department as an institution, its main tasks - the administration of direct and indirect taxes, legal obligations - to impose fines for unpaid taxes and recover unpaid taxes, its cooperation with other institutions, such as the Seimas, the government, the Police, the National Audit Office, the Bank of Lithuania and municipalities.The documents of the Tax Department and tax inspectorates stored in the Central State Archives of Lithuania and Kaunas Regional State Archives, not previously studied by historians, reveal constant "tension" between tax inspectors and taxpayers, the public's "reluctance" to pay taxes, and considerable powers of tax inspectors to make singlehanded decisions regarding taxpayer income and profit, to determine income received from real estate and to impose a tax based on these calculations, the complicated tax appeal procedure, tax inspectors' "acquaintances" with taxpayers, bribes, "incorrect" or "lower" taxes, tax recovery delays and so on. The study does not include the autonomous Klaipėda Region, where taxes were also handled autonomously; it was not subject to Lithuanian tax laws and Tax Department decisions. Lithuanian Governments submitted proposals to the Seimas for the creation of a tax system, and Lithuanian members of Parliament demonstrated excessive energy, ingenuity, confrontation and even mutual spite when proposals to change taxes, set new tariffs or tax certain groups of society were being announced from the tribune. There were many intercessions on behalf of farmers, but there were also defenders of townsfolk and entrepreneurs. In 1920-1923, the Seimas passed all major direct tax laws: land, real estate, remains, recognition, business recognition, profit and gross income taxes, but failed to agree on the taxation of the liberal professions. Indirect taxes were also introduced: excise duties on alcohol, beer, tobacco, tea, sugar, etc. In 1923, a state monopoly on spirits, which secured a huge income for the state, was also introduced. By 1924 the tax administration structure had been formed and only minor changes were introduced later. In addition to the Fee Department working under the Ministry of Finance since 1919, an Excise Department was established in 1921.The structural separation of functions did not last long and in 1923 the Ministry of Finance was reformed - it was decided to establish the Tax Department by merging the Fee and Excise departments. The Tax Department began working on January 1, 1924, when Mr. Mykolas Bliūdžius was appointed its head. Since 1920, specialists had been sent to various areas in Fithuania and tax inspectorates were established. As of 1921, there were 228 people working in the system, of which 92 were responsible for excise duties. In all, Lithuania had 21 tax inspectorates. As industry and trade expanded in the country and the number of small businessmen, real estate and land owners increased, not only more taxes were collected, but the tax administration apparatus also grew. In order to achieve greater "fairness" in tax administration, it was necessary to attract new, properly educated employees. Even during the years of economic crisis, the government kept increasing the number of people working in tax administration as well as the budget for maintaining the Tax Department. In 1933, there were 26 tax inspectorates in Lithuania with over 300 employees working in the entire tax administration system. In 1938, the system employed as many as 508 persons and the overall number of tax inspectorates in Lithuania was 28. The maintenance of such an administrative apparatus cost the state 2 million Lithuanian litas. The Tax Department administered 10-14 direct taxes, and the amount that had to be paid, based on the law, was determined by tax inspectors, who had to closely cooperate with local municipalities to obtain the necessary information on the property, land and real estate owned by the citizens, their marital and social status, and so on. Most attention was paid to collecting the land tax, as it was the most important tax guaranteeing about 18 million Lithuanian litas of revenue to the budget annually. [From the publication]