Agricultural tax has always been an important issue in the development of China's rural economy. In recent years, some experts have suggested the resumption of agricultural taxes, which has aroused widespread concern and heated discussions from all walks of life. Why, then, are some experts suggesting the reinstatement of agricultural taxes? Is the burden on the peasants too heavy? Let's go one by one**.
First of all, one of the main reasons for experts to suggest the resumption of agricultural taxes is to increase fiscal revenues. With the rapid development of China's economy, financial investment in agriculture also needs to be increased accordingly to support agricultural modernization, rural infrastructure construction, and agricultural science and technology research and development. As part of the fiscal revenue, the agricultural tax can provide certain financial support for the first place, so as to increase investment in the agricultural field.
Secondly, the reinstatement of agricultural taxes is also believed to help stimulate farmers' enthusiasm for production. Experts pointed out that the collection of agricultural taxes can guide farmers to cherish land resources more, stimulate them to increase agricultural input, and improve land yield.
In addition, by paying taxes, farmers are more aware of their responsibilities as land users and thus treat land resources more responsibly.
However, there are also voices worried about whether the reinstatement of agricultural taxes will increase the burden on farmers. According to historical data, agricultural taxes used to be an important part of the burden on farmers. In the 80s of the last century, the agricultural tax burden accounted for 44 percent of the total burden on peasants8%, and even as high as 49 in the 90s9%, and into the 21st century there are also 295%。
In recent years, although the state has continuously increased its support for agriculture, the burden on farmers is still heavy. Statistics show that the growth rate of peasants' incomes is far lower than the growth rate of GDP and urban residents' incomes in the same period, and the problem of peasants' relative poverty is still prominent.
As a matter of fact, it is not possible to generalize as to whether or not the peasants' burdens are excessive. On the one hand, there are indeed some peasants whose incomes are lower and their burdens are heavier due to factors such as lower land output, higher production costs, and natural disasters. On the other hand, there are also some farmers, especially those who operate on a large scale, whose incomes are relatively high and their burdens are not heavy due to higher yields, proper cost control, and subsidies.
Therefore, if the agricultural tax is restored, how to ensure that it is collected fairly and reasonably and avoid increasing the burden on poor peasants is an issue that needs to be seriously considered. Some experts suggested that while resuming agricultural taxes, subsidies for agriculture should be increased, especially subsidies to poor areas and poor peasants, so as to balance the impact of taxes and subsidies and ensure that the overall burden on peasants will not increase.
To sum up, the main reason for the experts' suggestion to restore the agricultural tax is to increase fiscal revenue and stimulate the peasants' enthusiasm for production. However, this proposal also needs to fully consider the actual burden on farmers and ensure the fairness and rationality of the tax policy. While restoring agricultural taxes, subsidies for agriculture should be increased to ensure that the overall burden on farmers does not increase, so as to achieve sustainable agricultural development.