Agricultural Tax

in the USSR, a state tax levied on the population. Introduced in 1923, the agricultural tax replaced a number of earlier agricultural taxes, which were paid in money and in kind. The agricultural tax was itself originally paid in both money and kind, but since Jan. 1, 1924, it has been paid only in money.

The agricultural tax is paid by citizens who have household plots of land or who as employees of the state have allotments of land in a rural locality. The plot of land itself is taxed not the income derived from it. For kolkhoz households, legislation of the Union republics has established average rates of tax— specifically, per 1/100 of a hectare of land—as well as the maximum deviations from the average rates. On the basis of the average tax rates, the agricultural tax is levied on the households of workers and employees all of whose able-bodied family members work in production enterprises and state and public organizations. Individual peasant households pay at double rates. The land under structures, brush, forest, and public roads and the land allotted by production enterprises and state and public organizations to their employees for collective and individual gardens and orchards are not taken into account in calculating the agricultural tax.

A comprehensive system of tax concessions has been established in connection with the agricultural tax (seeTAX CONCESSIONS). Under certain conditions, the rural intelligentsia, such as teachers and medical workers, and certain agricultural specialists, military personnel, invalids, agricultural settlers, and others are exempt from the tax. The agricultural tax is calculated by the appropriate financial bodies as of July 1 of each year: one-half is paid by August 15, and the other half by October 15.