Socio-Cultural Foundations of Income Taxation in England in I.H. Ozerov’s Works

The study examines the sociocultural foundations of income taxation in England through the lens of the sociological approach developed by the prerevolutionary and Soviet economist Ivan Khristoforovich Ozerov (1869–1942). The aim of the study is to analyze Ozerov’s conceptualization of the bases of income taxation, with particular reference to the English context. The research highlights that Ozerov placed considerable emphasis on the interrelation between social and economic spheres, while attributing primacy to the latter. Simultaneously, the author posits that Ozerov used the condition of the tax system as an indicator of the level of state development. He identified three stages of its evolution, asserting that the attainment of the highest stage is feasible only under conditions of an actual fusion between the state and society, realized through the implementation of a progressive income tax. According to Ozerov, this synthesis was exemplified by the English experience. Conclusion dwells upon the fact that the tax system functions as a crucial instrument for resolving social contradictions and contributes to the consolidation of statehood.