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”Den som mer äger… bör också mera betala” – tillkomsten av den progressiva inkomstskatten 1810-1812

Johansson, Victoria LU (2019) LAGF03 20192
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
The situation in Sweden was chaotic when the Swedish parliament assembled in 1809-1810. They were at war with Russia and France and had no king to lead them to neither victory nor peace. At the same time new ideas formed and thoughts of reformation circulated among the people. The peasantry contemplated their unprivileged state compared to the nobility and the clergy. They had to pay more taxes and had little to no chance of tax relief. Now, when the kingdom was the most distressed, they saw a chance to force their way to justice.

Even though their efforts, in the end, did not give them what they wanted, they were not in vain. The parliament agreed on a new taxation based on incomes, with a progressive tax rate. This meant low-income... (More)
The situation in Sweden was chaotic when the Swedish parliament assembled in 1809-1810. They were at war with Russia and France and had no king to lead them to neither victory nor peace. At the same time new ideas formed and thoughts of reformation circulated among the people. The peasantry contemplated their unprivileged state compared to the nobility and the clergy. They had to pay more taxes and had little to no chance of tax relief. Now, when the kingdom was the most distressed, they saw a chance to force their way to justice.

Even though their efforts, in the end, did not give them what they wanted, they were not in vain. The parliament agreed on a new taxation based on incomes, with a progressive tax rate. This meant low-income earners would pay a lower tax rate than high-income earners. Since this, over all, was a very good solution for the peasantry, they all agreed to this. The nobility and the clergy had some issues but agreed to it as well.

In the end, though, this new tax did not work out for various reasons. This thesis will, firstly, focus on the ideas formed during this period and why a new taxation was even thought of. Secondly, it will discuss the advantages and the disadvantages of this income tax and why it was removed merely two years after its installment. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Vid tiden för riksdagen 1809-1810 befann sig riket Sverige i kaos. Landets kung hade blivit avsatt samtidigt som de var i krig med både Ryssland och Frankrike. Samtidigt började nya idéer och tankar om reformer cirkulera i samhället. Bondeståndet reflekterade avundsamt kring adel- och prästeståndens privilegier som gav dessa skattelättnader, medan bönderna själva i stort sett saknade möjligheter till detta. Nu när riket befann sig i denna svåra situation passade bönderna på att försöka tvinga fram ett mer rättvist samhälle.

Bondeståndets ansträngningar gav dem inte det de sökte. Däremot beslutade Riksdagen om en ny skatteform, en progressiv inkomstskatt som innebar att de med lägre inkomst fick betala en lägre skattesats än de med högre... (More)
Vid tiden för riksdagen 1809-1810 befann sig riket Sverige i kaos. Landets kung hade blivit avsatt samtidigt som de var i krig med både Ryssland och Frankrike. Samtidigt började nya idéer och tankar om reformer cirkulera i samhället. Bondeståndet reflekterade avundsamt kring adel- och prästeståndens privilegier som gav dessa skattelättnader, medan bönderna själva i stort sett saknade möjligheter till detta. Nu när riket befann sig i denna svåra situation passade bönderna på att försöka tvinga fram ett mer rättvist samhälle.

Bondeståndets ansträngningar gav dem inte det de sökte. Däremot beslutade Riksdagen om en ny skatteform, en progressiv inkomstskatt som innebar att de med lägre inkomst fick betala en lägre skattesats än de med högre inkomst. Eftersom detta tilltalade bönderna mycket hade de inga svårigheter att rösta fram detta förslag. Adeln och prästerna var inte nöjda i samma mån men röstade ändå igenom förslaget de också.

I slutändan skulle det visa sig att detta inte var rätt tidpunkt för en progressiv inkomstskatt. Den här uppsatsen kommer, för det första, fokusera på idéerna som florerade i samhället vid den här tiden och varför man ens ville ha en ny form av taxering. För det andra kommer uppsatsen behandla de för- och nackdelar som fanns med inkomstskatten och sedan varför den plockades bort efter bara två år. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Johansson, Victoria LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20192
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
rättshistoria, skatterätt, progressiv inkomstskatt
language
Swedish
id
9000145
date added to LUP
2020-04-11 16:12:46
date last changed
2020-04-11 16:12:46
@misc{9000145,
  abstract     = {{The situation in Sweden was chaotic when the Swedish parliament assembled in 1809-1810. They were at war with Russia and France and had no king to lead them to neither victory nor peace. At the same time new ideas formed and thoughts of reformation circulated among the people. The peasantry contemplated their unprivileged state compared to the nobility and the clergy. They had to pay more taxes and had little to no chance of tax relief. Now, when the kingdom was the most distressed, they saw a chance to force their way to justice. 

Even though their efforts, in the end, did not give them what they wanted, they were not in vain. The parliament agreed on a new taxation based on incomes, with a progressive tax rate. This meant low-income earners would pay a lower tax rate than high-income earners. Since this, over all, was a very good solution for the peasantry, they all agreed to this. The nobility and the clergy had some issues but agreed to it as well.

In the end, though, this new tax did not work out for various reasons. This thesis will, firstly, focus on the ideas formed during this period and why a new taxation was even thought of. Secondly, it will discuss the advantages and the disadvantages of this income tax and why it was removed merely two years after its installment.}},
  author       = {{Johansson, Victoria}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{”Den som mer äger… bör också mera betala” – tillkomsten av den progressiva inkomstskatten 1810-1812}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}