Effectiveness of Russian tax policy (the problem of tax arrears in Solikamsk uezd in the 17th and 18th centuries)

The article analyzes arrears on the territory of the Solikamsk uyezd in the 17th and 18th centuries. The level of tax collection as an indicator of the effectiveness of local voivodship and office chambers is assessed on the basis of the data of budget lists, books of worldly elders, under-invoices, overhead books, and other financial documents of the 17th and 18th centuries. Taking into account the fact that the percentage of tax collection is the criterion of efficiency and, accordingly, of the insignificant rate of arrears, the author states that the local authorities fulfilled the task of collecting taxes. The effectiveness of tax collection at the stages of formation and flowering of the absolute monarchy at the regional level seems to be poorly understood. The analysis of tax collection makes it possible to draw a conclusion on the effectiveness of the state apparatus as a whole, which seems relevant in the framework of the discussion on the impossibility of providing the state with tax revenues in full in the specified chronological period. In the epoch of Peter I, the protracted Northern War, government reforms and an attempt to accelerate the modernization of the country demanded considerable expenses. The tax reform of Peter I, according to a number of historians, allowed to replenish the state treasury and to increase the flow of direct taxes. Although tax collection was high (over 90%), there were problems with tax arrest. In particular, local collectors faced not only some resistance from the local population to the fiscal policy of the central government, but also a shortage of personnel in the voivod office. The balance of significant sums in the Solikamsk office testifies to the success of the regional tax policy and to the absence of significant arrears on main taxes.