The contributions directes were a system of four taxes, also known as the ''quatre vieilles'', set up under the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
. They were all
direct tax
Although the actual definitions vary between jurisdictions, in general, a direct tax or income tax is a tax imposed upon a person or property as distinct from a tax imposed upon a transaction, which is described as an indirect tax. There is a dis ...
es, willingly voted into existence by vote of the deputies, by contrast with the
Ancien Régime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for "ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
{{disambig ...
, which mainly relied on
indirect tax
An indirect tax (such as sales tax, per unit tax, value added tax (VAT), or goods and services tax (GST), excise, consumption tax, tariff) is a tax that is levied upon goods and services before they reach the customer who ultimately pays the i ...
es.
Three of them were set up in 1790 by the
National Constituent Assembly:
* the contribution foncière, on all lands ;
* the contribution mobilière, on all income not derived from commerce or 'land' (with the latter including rent and industry)
* the patente, which taxed the professions according to their external signs
The fourth, the ''impôt sur les portes et fenêtres'' (comparable to the British
window tax
Window tax was a property tax based on the number of windows in a house. It was a significant social, cultural, and architectural force in England, France, and Ireland during the 18th and 19th centuries. To avoid the tax, some houses from the pe ...
) was set up in 1798 by the
French Directory
The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and r ...
. This one was not called a contribution, and was progressive.
Until the
First French Empire
The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eu ...
, these for direct taxes raised enough for the state budget, but the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
led to the re-establishment of indirect taxation.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Contributions Directes
French Revolution
Economic history of France