Self-taxation of the Ural peasants in the 1920–1930s

In the history of the Soviet state, the phenomenon of self-taxation of the rural population is of particular scientific interest. When studying the tax policy of our country in the 1920s and 1930s, one cannot ignore additional payments by the population along with the agricultural tax. Self-taxation had various forms: monetary, in-kind, and labor participation. Although the chosen topic has been studied by historians, it has not lost its relevance, since it can be studied from the point of view of domestic history, economic history, and the history of the state and law. Finding itself in the most difficult economic conditions, the country's leadership during the years of the new economic policy decided to use the initiative of the peasantry to improve life in the countryside, their cultural and economic needs with the help of voluntary self-taxation at first. After the grain procurement crisis of 1927/28, self-taxation changed from independent management of peasants’ funds to a mandatory element of the rural economy, when the forced confiscation of peasant funds served as an instrument for encouraging villagers to sell grain and other products on unfavorable terms. The purpose of the study is to reveal the features of the transformation of self-taxation from voluntary to compulsory using the example of the Urals, the largest region of the country. The object of study was the Ural peasantry. The subject of the study is the influence of the authorities, through legislation, on the independent, feasible participation of peasants in the development of rural infrastructure; the transformation of self-taxation into a mandatory payment; and the reflection of villagers on innovations in tax policy. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the comprehensive and systematic analysis of self-taxation in the Ural region based on numerous historical and legal sources, usually introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The results of the conducted research showed that the authorities violated the initially defined rights of peasants to free expression of will in solving pressing cultural and social issues. Self-taxation became a mandatory, compulsory part of replenishing the rural budget.