Erken Cumhuriyet Döneminde Tarım Politikalarını Desteklemeye Yönelik Bir Vergi Reformu: Aşar Vergisi’nin Kaldırılması
Rıdvan EnginTarıma dayalı bir ekonomik yapıya sahip olan Osmanlı Devleti’nin vergi sistemi içerisinde kuşkusuz en önemli gelir kaynağını zirai ürünlerden aynî olarak alınan Aşar Vergisi oluşturmuştur. Aşar Vergisi, devletin kuruluşundan itibaren uzun yıllar başarılı bir şekilde uygulanmış olmasına karşın özellikle 17. yüzyıldan sonra Osmanlı toprak düzeninde meydana gelen bozulmalara bağlı olarak verginin tahsil usullerinde adaletsizlikler ortaya çıkması nedeniyle önemli bir sorun haline gelmiştir. Nitekim Aşar Vergisi Cumhuriyetin ilk yıllarına kadar mevcudiyetini sürdürmüştür. Aşar Vergisi’nin kaldırılması, erken Cumhuriyet döneminde yeni rejimi en çok uğraştıran ve uzun süre tartışmalara yol açan mali sorunların başında gelmiştir. Bu bağlamda gerek tarımsal üretimi desteklemek, gerekse kırsal kesim üzerindeki vergi yükünü azaltmak amacıyla 1925 yılında yürürlükten kaldırılmıştır. Bu çalışmada Cumhuriyet dönemi maliye tarihi açısından önemli bir vergi reformu olarak kabul edilen Aşar Vergisi’nin kaldırılmasına zemin hazırlayan süreçte yaşanan gelişmelerin yanı sıra verginin kaldırılmasının iktisadi, mali, sosyal ve siyasi sonuçları ile tarım kesimi üzerindeki etkileri tartışılmaktadır. Aşarın kaldırılması sonucu ortaya çıkan gelir kaybının karşılanması amacıyla yapılan yasal düzenlemelerin vergi yapısını olumsuz etkilediği, vergi yükünün kırsaldan kente kaymasınanedenolduğuvedolaylıvergilerinağırlıkkazanmasınasebebiyetvermesi nedeniyle vergi sisteminde adaleti bozduğu belirlenmiştir.
A Tax Reform to Support Agricultural Policies in the Early Republic Period: Abolition of Tithe
Rıdvan EnginWithin the tax system of the Ottoman Empire, which had an economic structure based on agriculture, the most important source of revenue was undoubtedly the Tithe levied in kind on agricultural products. Although the Tithe Within the tax system of the Ottoman Empire, which had an economic structure based on agriculture, the most important source of revenue was undoubtedly the Tithe levied in kind on agricultural products. Although the Tithe had been applied successfully for many years since the foundation of the state, it became an important problem, especially after the 17th century, due to injustices in the collection procedures of the tax due to the deterioration in the Ottoman land order. As a matter of fact, the Tithe continued to exist until the first years of the Republic. The abolition of the Tithe was one of the most challenging and controversial fiscal problems for the new regime in the early Republican period. In this context, it was abolished in 1925 to support agricultural production and to reduce the tax burden on rural areas. This study discusses the developments in the process that paved the way for the abolition of the Tithe, which is considered as an important tax reform in terms of the fiscal history of the Republican period, as well as the economic, fiscal, social and political consequences of the abolition of the tax and its effects on the agricultural sector. It has been determined that the legislative regulations made to cover the loss of income resulting from the abolition of tithe negatively affect the tax structure, cause the tax burden to shift from rural to urban, and disrupt justice in the tax system by causing indirect taxes to gain weight.
In this study, the issue of the abolition of the Tithe, which is characterised as an important tax reform in the history of public finance, is discussed. First, the land regime and agricultural structure prevailing in the Ottoman Empire were analysed, and the problems arising in the implementation of the Tithe levied on agricultural production were included. Then, depending on these problems, the discussions on the abolition of the Tithe in both the Izmir Economic Congress and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and different views and opinions on the subject were put forward. Finally, the results and effects of the abolition of the Tithe are evaluated.
As in all Turkish states established in history, the most important element of economic life in the Ottoman Empire was agriculture. The Ottoman Empire became such a powerful empire because of its territorial organisation. Thanks to the fief system, which is an important part of this land order, the state shaped economic life by keeping agricultural production under its control.
The fief system, which formed the basis of the Ottoman land system, was modelled on the ita system implemented in the Seljuk period. The fief system is a system in which certain tax revenues to be collected from certain regions are left to state officials and in return they are obliged to perform certain services. In other words, it is the cultivation of state-owned lands by peasants under the control of state officials. Since the economy of the Ottoman Empire was based on agriculture and the important sources of income of the state were taxes levied on agriculture, the Ottoman Empire attached great importance to the fief system, which constituted the essence of the land order.
Most Ottoman population made their living from agriculture. Although the territory of the Empire was spread over a large area, it is observed that arable land and agricultural production were not at a sufficient level. The most important reason for this is the low population density due to the long years of wars. The low level of agricultural production in relation to the population density caused the taxes levied on agricultural products to be lower than estimated.
Since the Ottoman economywasbasedonagriculture, the most important source of income for the state was the Tithe levied on agricultural products. The Tithe literally means one-tenth. Tithe is a direct tax levied in kind on agricultural produce. In the Ottoman Empire, the practise of Ashar varied not only according to sharia law but also according to long-standing local customs and traditions as well as economic andfinancial conditions in various regions. For example, in the Ottoman Empire, the rate of this tax was determined by taking into account various criteria such as the fertility level of the land, irrigation facilities, type of agricultural product, local customs and traditions, etc. Another feature that differs from its application in Islamic law is that the tax is levied not only on Muslims but also on non-Muslims.
After the 17th century, some disruptions occurred in the Ottoman territorial organisation, and accordingly, significant problems were experienced in the collection of the Tithe. To solve these problems, the state thought to remove the costs of tax collection by abolishing the fief system and instead introduced the tax farming system. In the tax farming system, people called taxman were authorised to collect taxes in return for a certain price. However, the expected results could not be obtained from this system either. Most of the peasants left their lands and became unemployed because of the pressure exerted by the taxmans, who wanted to collect more taxes from the peasants to increase their profits. It was not possible to cope with such problems arising in the territorial organisation, and these problems continued until the collapse of the state.
The tax farming method was based on a contract between the state and the taxman who undertook to collect the highest amount of tax through a tender. However, from time to time, taxmans did not comply with the terms of this contract and tried to collect much more than the specified tax amount, leaving the peasants in a difficult situation. Since the state’s control mechanisms did not work effectively, it was not possible to protect the peasants from the oppression and cruelty of the taxmans.
In the first years of the Republic, one of the fiscal issues that occupied the new administration the most was the Tithe. Since the peasants constituted the majority of the population, the government pursued pro-peasant policies and abolished the Tithe in 1925 in order to encourage agricultural production and alleviate the tax burden on rural areas. As a result of the abolition of Tithe on the one hand and the provision of credit facilities to farmers and the allocation of funds from the state budget for the purchase of ploughs and seeds for farmers in need on the other, cultivated agricultural areas expanded and significant increases in agricultural production were achieved during this period.
In the 1920s, the Republic of Turkey had an economic structure dominated by agriculture, and 80% of the population lived in rural areas. Likewise, the agricultural sector accounted for a large part of the national income and almost all of the exports were agricultural products. In the post-war period, efforts to rebuild the country’s devastation were largely focused on agriculture.
The years 1923-1929 were a period of rapid increase in agricultural output in Turkey. In a short period of time, the pre-war production volume was reached in the main agricultural products, which had been reduced by half due to the War of Independence. In particular, the return of men returning from the front to their own lands after the war was the most important factor determining the increase in agricultural production, while legal regulations on prices and taxes also helped to create resources in favour of the agricultural sector.
The abolition of the Tithe led to significant developments in the agricultural sector, but on the other hand, it also deprived the state of an important source of income. This situation caused the state to lose an important source of f inancing. Although some new taxes were introduced to fill the gap in the state budget caused by the abolition of the Tithe, it was not easy to compensate for the loss of revenue. In this period, although the rates of existing taxes were increased or new taxes were introduced, the power of the tax system to tax agricultural production decreased considerably and the tax burden shifted from rural to urban areas. After this year, the agricultural sector in Turkey was not taxed in real terms, and the tax burden remained mainly on the commercial and industrial sectors.
Moreover, with the abolition of Ashar, the fiscal burden on the peasants as taxpayers decreased. With the abolition of Ashar, the share of taxes levied on agriculture in total tax revenues decreased from 33% to 10%, and thus an important decision was taken to increase the welfare level of the rural population.
The abolition of the Tithe, described by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as ‘the most ruthless scourge of the Middle Ages’, was the most pressing financial issue for the new government in the early years of the Republic. Reducing the tax burden on the agricultural sector, which is the most important component of the economic structure and the main source of livelihood of the Turkish people, has been among the main priorities of the government. Considering that the government had taxable resources in a newly established country after the long years of the liberation struggle, the abolition of the Tithe, which constituted the most important revenue item of the state budget in this period, is considered an extraordinary decision.
Another reason for the abolition of the Tithe was to create a modern tax system. There was a need to reorganise the taxes inherited from the Ottoman Empire or to abolish them completely. The abolition of the Tithe, which was a direct tax, and the new taxes introduced afterwards changed the tax structure significantly. While the weight of direct taxes decreased in the tax system, the share of indirect taxes, which do not take into account the ability of taxpayers to pay, increased.
In conclusion, it can be stated that the abolition of the Tithe was a difficult test for the government in the first years of the Republic. Nevertheless, the government took the risk, regardless of the economic and financial consequences, and took the bold decision to abolish the tithe in order to reduce the tax burden on the peasants. Therefore, while this decision of the government gained the support of the rural population, it is not possible to say that it was equally accepted by all segments of the society. In particular, industrial and commercial workers opposed the abolition of the Tithe, considering that the new taxes to be introduced to compensate for the loss of income due to the abolition of the Tithe would be partially reflected on them.
