Трансформація фінансової політики на українських територіях у XIX – на початку XX cт.

Abstract

Еволюція податкової системи від подушної податі до майнових і акцизних форм оподаткування супроводжувалася структурною трансформацією загального фіскального навантаження та концентрацією доходів у центральному бюджеті. Домінування непрямих податків і прибутків державних монополій, орієнтація бюджетних видатків на адміністративні, військові та інфраструктурні потреби загальноімперського масштабу сприяли закріпленню аграрно-сировинної спеціалізації українських земель і обмежували можливості фінансування соціальної сфери та місцевого господарства.

The relevance of the study is determined by the need for an in-depth analysis of the tax and budgetary policy of the Russian Empire toward the Ukrainian governorates in the context of the formation of long-term regional socio-economic disparities. Examining imperial mechanisms of fiscal mobilization and budgetary redistribution is essential for understanding the historical preconditions of financial centralization and the consolidation of the donor status of Ukrainian territories within the imperial economy. The study aims to identify the parameters of the Russian Empire's financial policy toward the Ukrainian governorates in the pre-revolutionary period, through an analysis of the structure of tax extractions and budgetary redistribution, to substantiate their role within the imperial financial system. The study draws on scholarly works addressing the financial policy of the Russian Empire toward the Ukrainian governorate from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries, as well as aggregate statistical materials from historical and economic research. The methodological framework is based on historical-genetic and historical-descriptive approaches, quantitative methods, and comparative analysis tools. The findings indicate that the Russian Empire's financial policy toward the Ukrainian governorates was characterized by persistent asymmetry between the volumes of tax extractions and budgetary allocations received, resulting in a predominantly net donor function. The evolution of the tax system from poll taxation to property-based and excise forms did not reduce the overall fiscal burden; instead, it was accompanied by structural transformation and increased concentration of revenues in the central budget. The dominance of indirect taxes and revenues from state monopolies, along with the orientation of budgetary expenditures primarily toward administrative, military, and large-scale imperial infrastructure needs, reinforced the agrarian and raw-material specialization of Ukrainian territories and constrained opportunities for financing the social sphere and local economic development.