Fiscal Reform

The 19th century was a world where old and new societies intertwined. Traditional feudal monarchs had long-established and diverse taxation methods, while modern industrial societies developed their own direct and efficient fiscal systems. A country’s fiscal and taxation capabilities determine its influence on the world and play a crucial role in domestic wealth distribution. However, in the original game, there were only a few tax rates with minor differences and some simple and direct tax laws. This mod revamps and refines the tax and trade laws and provides more methods for countries to collect wealth.

1. Tax Laws
Taxes specified in the tax laws are one of the main sources of national revenue. In the 19th century, the world was in a transitional phase between old and new. Taxes in the old society were mainly levied on the poor, with almost no collection from nobles and the church. After rounds of difficult political struggles and bloody revolutions, a more equal and universal tax rate gradually established in the new society.
This mod resets the entire content of tax laws and adds two transitional tax systems. In the initial land tax system, all tax burdens fall on farmers. As the tax laws improve, the tax base will continue to expand, and the rates will become fairer.
Additionally, this mod adjusts the highest and lowest tax rates, making them more extreme, thus giving players a larger decision-making space.

2. Trade Laws
Trade laws determine the direction of a country’s trade development. This mod does not make extensive changes to trade laws, but they remain the core of the entire trade system, determining the trade tools available to governments. The emphasis of various trade laws is as follows:

**Mercantilism**: Emphasizes the growth of monetary wealth. Countries focus on trade industry chains (such as trade centers, shipbuilding, railways) and any industries with high profits (such as luxury goods, indulgence goods, addictive goods). By using state violence, countries aim to expand their share in the international market as much as possible to achieve the primitive accumulation of capital.

**Trade Protectionism**: Emphasizes the development of domestic industries. Countries focus on improving industrial capabilities (such as heavy industry, mining, railways) and use administrative means to enhance the survival ability of domestic industries while allowing them to develop on a larger scale. However, this approach may also hinder industry innovation (reduce technology dissemination).

**Liberalism**: Emphasizes the free development of the market. Countries focus on maintaining the healthy operation of the market and only intervene in strategic industries (such as railways). The rest is left to the market to allocate resources, aiming for optimal economic efficiency.

**Isolationism**: Emphasizes maintaining the autonomy of the domestic market. Countries focus on the internal circulation of the domestic market to avoid being influenced by external factors.

3. Franchise Rights
Franchise rights have been an important means of government intervention in economic trade from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, serving as a significant channel for profit extraction. Although with the rise of liberalism, governments’ preference for franchise rights gradually diminished, they still held an important position until the mid-19th century.

There are mainly two types of franchise rights:
**Regional Franchise Rights**: Monopoly rights in a specific region, such as the East India Company’s monopoly trading rights in the region. This increases the economies of scale of buildings, enhances throughput, and increases investment. A franchise fee is charged from industries based on building levels.

**Resource Franchise Rights**: Licensing rights for critical resources, such as the Pacific Railroad’s permission to use land along the route. This reduces building investments but also decreases throughput. A franchise fee is charged from industries based on building levels.

4. War Indemnities and War Taxes
Behind a war are countless exchanges and struggles for interests. A huge war indemnity can rapidly complete the initial accumulation of industrialization for Japan. A war is also a perfect excuse to levy additional taxes, to the extent that sometimes it’s not for war that taxes are levied, but rather for taxation that wars are waged.
This mod significantly increases the amount of war indemnities and adds new decisions, allowing players to levy additional taxes during wartime. Perhaps continuous war might be the best choice..?

The amount of war reparations has been increased from 10% to 75% of income, but the duration of the reparations has been shortened to 3 years.

5. Overissuing Currency
Overissuing currency is the last resort for any government with the right to issue currency. Undeniably, it possesses infinite fiscal power, but its damage to the economy is equally significant, requiring decision-makers to consider carefully, relying on this power in critical moments for greater benefits.
This mod adds a new decision for players, which appears after researching Central Bank and has special unlocking conditions. After unlocking the decision, players can choose different scales of currency overissuance to obtain a large or even huge income. However, the entire economy’s output and throughput will be affected correspondingly, and even after stopping overissuance, a recovery period is required.

6. Selling Official Positions
Selling official positions is a common practice for autocratic governments in decline, openly pricing large and small official positions and selling the government’s authority and privileges for a significant income.
This mod adds a decision that allows players to sell government positions, sacrificing administrative efficiency for financial revenue.

7. Stamp Duty
Stamp duty has been one of the most popular types of taxes throughout history. In the 18th and 19th centuries, busy commerce generated massive transactions and contracts. However, these civil contracts often faced alteration, fraud, and breach. Providing notarial services for contracts with the authority of the government and collecting a fee was a win-win solution.
When players unlock the Central Archives technology, they can levy stamp duty through a decision, not only collecting additional taxes but also gaining widespread public support.

8. Long-Term National Debt
In 18th and 19th century Europe, borrowing was an important source of funds for sustaining national operations and wars. However, high levels of debt often made it difficult for governments to repay, leading to repeated defaults and denials. This poor credit, in turn, required governments to borrow at higher interest rates.
The design of long-term bonds allows the government to repay only a small portion of the loan each year, significantly reducing the pressure to pay off debt. The higher probability of repayment makes the public willing to lend to the government at lower interest rates, allowing the government to borrow at lower costs.
When players unlock the Investment Bank technology, they can access a new decision that drastically reduces borrowing costs and significantly increases the amount of loans.

Incompatible with mods that modify building production methods and tax laws or trade laws.

More Capitalist : https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3276540802
AI Economic Enhance: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3131130691