"The Law," "The State," and Other Political Writings, 1843-1850

2. The Tax Authorities and Wine

10 [vol. 1, p. 243. “Le Fisc et la vigne.” January 1841. n.p.] The production and sale of wines and spirits must of necessity be affected by the treaties and laws on finance that are currently the subject of deliberations in the chambers. We will endeavor to set out: 1. The new obstacles that the draft law dated 30 December 1840 is threatening to impose on the wine-producing industry; 2. Those obstacles implicit in the formal rationale that accompanies this draft; 3. The results to be expected from the treaty signed with Holland; 4.The means by which the wine-producing industry might succeed in freeing itself.§1. The legislation on wines and spirits is a clear departure from the principle of equality of duties. At the same time it places all the classes of citizen whose industry it regulates in a separate, heavily taxed category, it creates among these very classes  2  The Tax Authorities and Wine1 1. Taxes on wine and spirits were very detrimental to the Chalosse. Introduced in 1806, twice withdrawn and reestablished between 1814 and 1816, the taxes did not change much until 1840, when the European crisis led to greater government spending. On 30 December 1840 a bill for taxes on wines and spirits in order to lower the deficit was presented to parliament. Being from a wine-producing region, Bastiat was somewhat concerned for himself, because he had some vines on his own property; however, as a member of the General Council, he was even more concerned by a law that was very hard on the local farmers, whose main crop was grapes for wine producing. This study was presented to the General Council in 1841. See “On the Wine-Growing Question,” p. 25 in this volume. See also the entry for “Wine and Spirits Tax” in the Glossary of Subjects and Terms. The Tax Authorities and Wine 11 inequalities of a second order: all are placed outside common law; each is held at varying degrees of distance. It appears that the minister of finance has taken not the slightest notice of the radical inequality we have just pointed out, but on the other hand he has shown himself to be extremely shocked by the secondary inequalities created by the law: he considers as privileged the classes that have not yet suffered from all of the rigors it imposes on other classes. He is devoted to removing these nice differences not by relaxing them but by making them worse. However, in pursuit of equality thus understood, the minister remains faithful to the traditions of the creator of the institution. It is said that Bonaparte originally established tariffs that were so moderate that the receipts did not cover the costs of collection. His minister of finance drew to his attention the fact that the law annoyed the nation without providing the treasury with funds. “You are an idiot, M. Maret,” replied Napoléon. “Since the nation is complaining about a few impositions, what would it have done if I had added heavy taxes to them? Let us first accustom them to the exercise ; later we can adjust the tariff.” M. Maret realized that the great captain was no less an able financier. The lesson has not been lost, and we will have the opportunity of seeing that the disciples are preparing the reign of equality with a prudence worthy of the master. The principles on which the legislation on wines and spirits is based are clearly and energetically expressed in three articles flowing from the law dated 28 April 1816: Art. 1. Each time wine, cider, etc., is taken away or put somewhere else, a circulation duty will be paid. . . . Art. 20. In towns and villages with a total population of two thousand people and more2 . . . the treasury will levy an entry duty . . . , etc. . . . Art. 47. When the wine, cider, etc., is sold retail, a duty of 15 percent of the said sales price will be levied. . . . In this way, each movement of wine, each entry, and each retail sale lead to the payment of a duty. Side by side with these rigorous and, one might say, strange principles, the law establishes a few exceptions. 2. (Bastiat’s note) This figure varied at times. 12 The Tax Authorities and Wine With regard to circulation duty: Art. 3. The following will not be subject to the duty levied under Art. 1...