Ferme générale

The Ferme générale ( loosely translated as General Finance lease office of the kingdom ) was an institution founded in absolutist France by Jean -Baptiste Colbert in 1681, whose purpose was to collect tax leases. Colbert was appointed in 1668 by Louis XIV to the Secretary of the Royal Household ( Secrétaire d' État à la Maison ). Until that time, various leases existed side by side.

Under the reign of Louis XV, the previously individual leases were distributed to six years after their association for the ferme générale to 40 members in 1728. As of 1755 there were 60 members. The ferme générale generated almost half of government revenue of the Ancien Régime.

Precursor

So first is the gabelle mentioned. It was conceived and raised during the reign of Philip IV in 1286 as a temporary structure, but then sat down under Charles V as a permanent tax revenue instrument by. The gabelle introduced in France originally is a taxation on any kind of goods; other forms were the gabella emigrationis a tax which was levied on emigrants for battered assets and gabella hereditatis which was to be paid for going abroad inheritance or gift.

The Ferme générale had been founded by Jean -Baptiste Colbert to an end in the levying of tax leases. Before the introduction of tax farming, there were various leases adjacent. With the inclusion of the reign of Louis XV. and the takeover of government business by Cardinal André- Hercule de Fleury in 1726 were, combines the formerly individual leases for the ferme générale in 1728.

The cinq grosses fermes were left to individual Fermier Général for a certain period of lease:

• Gabelles or salt tax;
• Control surveys to the city of Paris around, so taxes on some staple foods such as oil, sugar, wine, etc.
• Contract taxes;
• Tobacco taxes established between years 1674 to 1675;
• Taxes for the French territories in North America, which as domaine d' occident or Ferme d' occident Créée were called; also originated 1674-1675;
• Furthermore, the taxes on stamp paper Ferme du timbré paper also introduced 1674-1675, see also Révolte you timbré paper.

Notes

The tax farming is a method of tax collection, in which a State does not feed itself taxes and duties, but on private citizens ( tax farmers, fermiers généraux ) to which tax revenues after payment or ongoing payments are leased. The payments of the tax farmers may be fixed by the State, or the right to tax can be bought in advance. The Ferme générale was in the Ancien Régime in France organized in the above sense institution whose task was to Customs and Excise on behalf of the king within existing six-year contracts to raise.

Compte rendu au Roi With or financial report to the King on 19 February 1781 then French finance minister Jacques Necker reported about the current status of the royal government finances and put the rest also an account of his previous reform policy from.

The contractor, so the tax farmers ( fermier général), agreed to pay to the Treasury in the amount of fixed rent and received in return a profit after tax collection. An upper limit has been set for this remuneration from 1780. For the lease in the years 1768-1774 the Ferme générale had to pay 90 million livres per year. A fermier général was therefore obliged for funds for 1.5 million livres. Not everyone of the tenants was alone at such a large advance in the position, so several people were doing behind the name of a fermier together, we called these agents. For his pre-stretched to the Treasury capital had the fermier an annual entitled to reimbursement of expenses 2400 livres, 24 000 livres fees, 10 % interest for the first million and interest at 6% for each additional half a million. Thus, the income of a fermier général annually about 157 000 livres was, for comparison had an average official one annual salary of less than 1,000 livres.

Formations in the 18th century

The wall of the farmers-general ( Mur des Fermiers généraux ) in Paris was built in 1785-1788. According to the information of Louis -Sébastien Mercier, there were 60 barriers to remote locations and access roads of the suburbs of Paris, of which 24 major turnpikes and two inlets on the water ways to monitor them two inches ships had been used. At these points, customs officials were active. In case of violation of the regulations, a protocol was created and charged an appropriate fine.

The Ferme générale was a institutions of the Ancien Régime. She found herself so exposed during the French Revolution strongest criticism. The Ferme Générale was repealed in 1790. The leading members were executed on the scaffold, a total of 28 former members of the consortium on May 8, 1794 were guillotined, including Antoine Lavoisier, the father and his wife Marie Anne Lavoisier Pierrete Paulze, Jacques Paulze ( 1723-1794 ).

After the French Revolution of 1789 we brought about a fundamental change in the existing conditions. In 1789, all tax exemptions and privileges were abolished in France and introduced the general, evenly distributed property tax. This predisposition to direct taxes, which then belonged to the basic and building control, had been scheduled from December 1, 1790 in the Constituent Assembly by a legislative decree. For the exemplary method published several regulations and finally the law was passed on 23 November 1798.

List of main tax collector ( fermiers généraux )

• Jacques -Mathieu Augeard (1732-1805)
• Nicolas Beaujon (1718-1786)
• Louis Bechameil de Nointel (1630-1703)
• Louis -Dominique -François Le Bas de Courmont (* 1706)
• Louis -Dominique -Marie Le Bas de Courmont
• Jean -François de La Borde (1691-1769)
• Étienne- Michel Bouret (1709-1777)
• Jacques Joseph Brac (1726-1794)
• Geoffroy de Chalut Verins
• André -Guillaume Darlus (1683-1747)
• Paul Delpech (1682-1751)
• Nicolas Deville de Noailly
• Charles Louis Claude Dupin, seigneur de Francueil (1716-1780)
• Claude Dupin (1686-1769)
• Charles Claude Ange Dupleix (1696-1750)
• Jean -Joseph -Louis Graslin (1728-1790)
• Antoine Gaspard de La Grimod Reynière (1687-1754)
• Laurent de La Grimod Reynière (1733-1793)
• Grimod Pierre du Fort (1692-1748)
• André Haudry (1688-1769)
• Claude Adrien Helvetius
• Louis Denis Lalive de Bellegarde ( 1679 or 1680-1751 )
• Denis Joseph Lalive d' Epinay (1724-1782)
• Antoine Lavoisier
• Jean Le Juge
• Charles -Guillaume d' Etioles Lenormant (1717-1799)
• Jean Bonaventure Le Lay de Villemaré (* 1659)
• Mazade Laurent (1656-1743)
• François- Nicolas d' Mégret Étigny (1673-1734)
• Charles François Paul Le Normant de Tournehem (1684-1751)
• Alexandre Philbert Pierre de Parseval
• Charles René de Parseval
• Philbert de Parseval (1696-1766)
• Jacques Paulze (1723-1794)
• Paul Poisson de Bourvallais
• Jean -François de La Porte (1675-1745)
• François de La Porte de Féraucourt († 1731)
• François de La Porte du Plessis (1695-1733)
• Charles Renouard de La Touanne († 1704)
• Alexandre Le Riche de La Pouplinière (1693-1762)
• Pierre -Paul Riquet (1604 or 1609-1680 )
• Gilles de Ruellan (1575-1627)
• Charles Savalette (1683-1756)
• Jean Baptiste Louis Georges Seroux d' Agincourt (1730-1814)
• Jean -Baptiste Tavernier Boullongne (1749-1794)
• Jean -Joseph de Laborde