Impuestos - History Lab

Cadastre of the Ensenada

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:42 +0000

Between 1750 and 1754 all the towns in “las Castillas” were subjected to an interrogation consisting of the following 40 questions: Name of the town (question 1); jurisdiction (2); extension and limits (3); types of land (4, 5); trees (6, 7, 8 and 13); measures of surface and capacity used (9, 10); species, quantity and value of fruits (11, 12, 14 and 16); tithes and first fruits (15); mines, salt mines, mills and other “artefacts” (17); livestock (18, 19 and 20); census of population, with neighbours, labourers, solemnly poor (21, 35 and 36), census of clerics (38) and convents (39); houses and other buildings (22); goods belonging to the commons (23), sisas and arbitrios (24), expenses of the commons, such as salaries, festivals, paving, fountains (25), taxes (26 and 27); industrial and commercial activities, with the utility of the goods or services produced: taverns, inns, shops, bakeries, butchers, bridges, boats on rivers, markets and fairs (29), hospitals (30), money changers and merchants (31), shopkeepers, doctors, surgeons, apothecaries, notaries, muleteers etc. (32); masons, stonemasons, masons, stonemasons, blacksmiths, cobblers etc. (33, 34); ships (37); alienated goods (28) and the King’s own revenues (40); the answers to these questions are obtained following a previously regulated process. This panoramic view of the Kingdom is a small part of a larger survey, the so-called Cadastre of the Marquis de la Ensenada, set in motion by Royal Decree of Ferdinand VI on 10 October 1749, as a preliminary step to fiscal reform, replacing the complicated and unjust provincial revenues with a single tax, the so-called Contribution. The Single Tax was never implemented, but it has left an important volume of documentation in our archives, the General Answers are kept in various State Archives. The General Archive of Simancas holds the complete certified copy of the replies of the 13,000 localities of the Crown of Castile. Preservation reasons led to the initiation of the microfilming process. In the 1980s, the 545 books of General Answers kept in Simancas were microfilmed. The frequent consultation of these collections and the need to facilitate access made digitisation advisable, which was carried out by the Document Reproduction Service (SRDAE) from microfilm during 2004 and 2005. The result is 350,000 images of documents with very neat calligraphic handwriting, easy to read and with hardly any abbreviations; very few pages have legibility problems, such as faded inks or ink transfer from the back. These images are now available on this page.

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Expansion of San Luis Potosí at the end of the 17th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:18 +0000

Throughout the second half of the 18th century, the city councils were the agents in charge of controlling and regulating different territories in New Spain, controlling income, expenses and the territory itself from the figure of the viceroy. San Luis Potosí was one of the most important nuclei in this organisation, instructing new officials in governmental matters in order to manage the finances of different cities.
Traditionally, the government of these cities was the responsibility of the aldermen, who were granted goods and lands in exchange for obtaining resources to satisfy the different public needs of the citizens registered in their territory thanks to their administration. Theoretically, this was not a problem until the Ordenanza de Intendentes stated that a fundamental task of the intendants was to ask the town councils for a report on their own property and taxes, with special emphasis on expenses and surpluses. With the results, the Council of the Indies could regulate the goods in order to minimise the surplus and obtain the remaining amount for the crown.
The tension between the regidores and the guidelines of the newly arrived intendants was more than evident. Until the second half of the 18th century, the surpluses in the cities served to legitimise the certain independence they enjoyed, but the intendants soon saw this wealth as another element to defend their power in the territories. Both applied regulations that gave them legitimacy to control these resources, so that conflict was practically assured if they could not reach an equitable agreement.
In this situation, the city council of San Luis Potosí undertook a northern expansion project that sought to regulate and integrate the agricultural and livestock production of the region, as well as the mining centres and the entire population that settled in its jurisdiction. The trade route to Mexico City and the corridor to Veracruz served as an articulator of the territory, a point for territorial pacification, and San Luis also managed to extend its influence to the Gulf of Mexico.

The post Expansion of San Luis Potosí at the end of the 17th century first appeared on History Lab.

Distribution of foreign textiles through the port of Bilbao between 1710-1714

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:12 +0000

The resource deals with the distribution of foreign fabrics imported from the port of Bilbao during 1710 and 1714, the years in which the War of the Spanish Succession took place. Fabrics destined for Madrid and Toledo paid customs duties in Valmaseda, Orduña, while those bound for the Cantabrian mountain range did so in Vitoria. Taxes were directly proportional to the quality of the fabric: the higher the quality, the higher the tax. From the port of Bilbao they were distributed to wide areas of the peninsular monarchy: the Upper Ebro Valley, the Duero Valley, the Iberian System, Logroño, Soria and Toledo as its extreme points. Where did most of the textiles come from? In the years prior to the war, Holland and England were the two largest exporters (90% of the linen came from Holland). The Royal Order of 3 December 1710 prohibited the importation of Dutch fabrics, thus favouring the British. In the distribution network, Madrid, Toledo, Segovia and Valladolid were the provinces with the highest import ratio, followed by Ávila, Burgos, Palencia, Soria and Logroño. The authors warn us that, due to the war situation, the distribution could have altered with respect to previous years. The Royal Treasury tried to reduce some costs by suspending the payment of pensions, subsidies and other benefits, or by delaying the payment of bureaucratic salaries; this meant that certain privileged groups saw their incomes reduced. At the same time, in Castilian territory, the tax burden on the population was increased. The high taxes and reduced purchasing power led to a lower demand for foreign fabrics.

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Revenues from the provincial revenues of the city of León in 1757

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:13 +0000

The provincial rentas provinciales of the hull of the city of León were a type of rentas ordinarias; taxes levied on a permanent basis on a regular basis. This means that the provincial rentas were an aggregate of previously independent rentas, such as alcabalas, tercias, millones and cientos. In the case of León, in 1757, the author computes a total collection of 491,886 reales. What was the basis for this revenue? Most of it, 47.5%, was basic foodstuffs of modern society: meat, wine and brandy. Within meat, the most heavily taxed was pork, which was the most popularly consumed. On the other hand, beef, demanded by the wealthier social groups, was more protected from taxation. By individual products, wine was the most heavily taxed, with up to 33.3% of the revenue coming from the fluid product; a sum of 163,456 reais. Other events, such as fairs and markets, also provided a large part of the revenue with 116,844 reales, or 23.8% of the total. The typology of income shows the products and marketing systems that existed in the centre of the city of León and which served to increase the income of the provincial revenues, revenues which, as a whole, accounted for almost 45% of the net income of the monarchy in the 18th century.

The post Revenues from the provincial revenues of the city of León in 1757 first appeared on History Lab.

Expenditure of the provincial revenue of the city of León in 1757

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:13 +0000

The provincial revenues, a set of independent aggregates such as the alcabalas, millones, tercias and cientos, were one of the main sources of revenue for the administration. In the case of the provincial revenues of the city of León, the income was accompanied by the corresponding expenses. In 1757 these expenses amounted to a total of 484,715 reales out of a revenue of 491,886 reales. Most of the expenditure, 71% (344,535 reales) went to the Treasury General of Revenues. The remaining 29% of expenditure was mainly divided between employees’ salaries (15.3%), loans to individuals (6.7%), and repairs (1.7%). The employees constituted a socio-professional category of their own, being the persons directly employed by the administrators of the revenues and the officials who were responsible for the management of the revenues. Also included are the intendant, with an allocation of 3,000 reales, and the four deputies elected by the parish residents, with 500 reales each. As a whole, the expenses were oriented towards the support of the supra-provincial administration, both in terms of destination and in terms of management and collection.

The post Expenditure of the provincial revenue of the city of León in 1757 first appeared on History Lab.

Salt tax on Ibiza (1604-1614)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:07 +0000

A key fact in the development of the commercialisation of salt produced on Ibiza is that in 1499 Ferdinand the Catholic granted a privilege, upon payment of two thousand ducats, whereby the salt mines were exempt from paying taxes because they were an indispensable part of the livelihood of the inhabitants. This was because part of the wealth obtained had to be used to buy grain and other goods that were very difficult to obtain on the island due to its climatic and geographical characteristics, which resulted in land with a low degree of productivity. But this climate had a positive side: a bad year for cereal harvests due to the lack of rain was, on the other hand, an ideal year for salt harvesting.
Throughout the 17th century, the price of salt in Ibiza was constantly changing due to various political decisions taken by the Monarchy during those years. On many occasions, the price did nothing but rise and become continually more expensive, which often led to a drastic drop in sales due to the monarchy’s desire to raise capital through Ibizan salt, clashing completely with the privileged situation signed in 1499 and the current panorama of the international salt trade, in which goods from other places were entering the markets and causing a substantial reduction in prices. In the period analysed at the beginning of the 17th century, we can clearly see a decrease from 4256 pounds in 1604 to 3166 pounds in 1614, a drop of 25.61% in barely ten years.

The post Salt tax on Ibiza (1604-1614) first appeared on History Lab.

Customs tariffs in the ports of Seville and Cadiz at the end of the 17th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:07 +0000

The customs tariffs of the ports of Seville and Cadiz, the main platforms for trade with America, are marked by the struggle of the two cities for tax advantages. During the 17th century, many merchants and traders moved from Seville to Cadiz due to the facilities offered by the port of Cadiz, both in terms of navigation and customs measures and taxes. While Seville collected the almojarifazgo de Indias, the alcabala and the saca, in 1665 the merchants of Cadiz reduced the alcabala from 10% to 4% after buying the right to collect it from the King. In this way, the tax burden in the port of Seville was around 30%, while in Cadiz, as we have seen, only 4% was applied. The author reflects in the resource the different customs tariffs according to the product and represented in reales de vellón. The comparison of prices resulted in the Sevillian protest; in 1666 the monarch ordered the equalisation of the almojarifazgo taxes in all customs offices, a measure that was never implemented. Thus, during the last 20 years of the 17th century, the Customs landlords favoured and benefited the trade of Cadiz: a commercial growth that was reflected in the population, from 2,000/4,000 inhabitants in 1,600 to 40,000 in 1,700.

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Collection of municipal taxes on wine to finance the expenses of the Council and the Crown, Madrid 1606-1700

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:40 +0000

Throughout the 17th century, the costly wars between the Spanish Empire and the European territories led to increased spending by the Treasury. One way to alleviate the budgetary imbalance was to increase the tax burden on citizens and on the products they consumed. Although the new taxation sparked numerous revolts and riots, the tax burden settled down: in Castile, between 1577 and 1666, the Crown’s tax revenue rose from 2.6 million ducats to 5.7 million ducats. In this context, wine, popularly used, was a source of tax revenue. In Madrid, in addition to nourishing the Crown’s treasury, the Conejo added a parallel increase for its municipal benefit. The resource shows the evolution of the collection of wine according to the purpose of the collection and the amount in millions of maravedís obtained. Between 1607 and 1640, the municipal tax payments were used to pay the town’s expenses; it was the introduction of wine from Olivenza in 1644 when part of this collection was destined for the Crown. From that moment on, the tax burden on wine served to cover more and more of the Crown’s needs, rising from 7% in 1644 to 64% in 1700. This rise was paralleled by a steady increase in taxes on the litre of wine: while in 1606-1610 the taxes represented 27% of the price of a litre, between 16666 and 1670 they rose to 65%. Why did the authorities tax wine with special interest? Its wide distribution and inelastic demand made it favourable for securing a constant income. Such was its importance that at the end of the 17th century, wine taxes accounted for 40-45% of the total tax revenues collected in Madrid.

The post Collection of municipal taxes on wine to finance the expenses of the Council and the Crown, Madrid 1606-1700 first appeared on History Lab.

1528 Census of the Pecheros of Charles V

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:33 +0000

The Census of Pecheros records the list of neighbours who were called “pecheros”, i.e. those who had to pay the Service tax to His Majesty. It shows, municipality by municipality, the number of pecheros and the amount they paid, and is one of the most widely used demographic sources, although it must be complemented by others. This tax affected the common classes and excluded both the nobility and the Church. Ordered by Charles I in 1528, its methodology places it in a pre-censal period, using rudimentary accounting for its elaboration.

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Campoflorido Census of 1712

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:33 +0000

Census taken in 1712 by order of Campoflorido, Royal Councillor of the Treasury, in the context of the War of Succession to the Spanish throne. The aim of the census was to draw up a balance sheet to improve the economic benefit of the Felipist side via taxes. As a result, the number of neighbours who had to support Philip V economically was recorded.

The post Campoflorido Census of 1712 first appeared on History Lab.