zhihu2024

Author: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/614233315

1. What were the contributions of farmers in the past?

1. Grain contribution. According to Article 10 of the Agricultural Tax Regulations of the People's Republic of China, the national average tax rate is set at 15.5% of the annual yield. From 1949 to 2000, farmers contributed over 700 billion kilograms of grain to the country. Even if calculated at one yuan per kilogram, it would be 1.4 trillion yuan in pension funds, which is actually worth much more.

2. Three provisions and five pooling. The Regulations on Cost and Labor Management of Farmers specify the regulations for village retention, township pooling, administrative and institutional fees, fundraising, and apportionment. "Provisions" refer to village retention, and "pooling" refers to township pooling. The "three provisions" refer to three types of fees that farmers pay to the village-level administrative units, including housing provident fund, public welfare fund, and administrative management fee. The "five pooling" refers to five types of fees that farmers pay to the township-level government, including education surcharge, family planning fee, militia training fee, rural road construction fee, and preferential treatment fee. The standard principle for these taxes and fees is not to exceed 5% of annual income, but in reality, it often exceeds this limit.

3. Corvée labor. This refers to voluntary labor with self-provided food and bedding. Of course, there are always road repairs and river repairs in the township and village every year, and corvée labor generally lasts for more than a month and a half.

4. Hidden taxes.

① Indirect taxes (turnover taxes) in our country implement a production site taxation system, with taxpayers mainly being urban industrial and commercial enterprises. The turnover tax revenue obtained by large and medium-sized cities with concentrated industrial and commercial activities accounts for the largest proportion, and a large part of this revenue is paid by rural consumers. However, it is used to compensate for various services provided by the government (including compulsory education, urban infrastructure, social security, medical insurance, etc.). Based on calculations in 2002, the proportion of total consumption by farmers accounted for 32.02% of the total consumption, and it can be further estimated that the turnover tax burden borne by farmers as consumers that year was 396.459 billion yuan. This tax revenue is mainly concentrated in the central government and large and medium-sized cities, and the rural governments where farmers are located cannot use them.

② Since farmers are not taxpayers of value-added tax, they have no right to issue special value-added tax invoices and have to bear the input tax. In contrast, the European Union exempts farmers from value-added tax, but compensates farmers for the input tax through a "uniform tax rate compensation" method. China does not have this provision. According to the sample survey data on per capita production and operating expenses of rural residents provided by the China Statistical Yearbook, it can be estimated that the input tax on agricultural inputs due to the exemption of farmers from value-added tax reached 83.104 billion yuan in 2002. This tax revenue is also mainly concentrated in the central government and large and medium-sized cities, and the rural governments where farmers are located cannot use them.

The per capita tax and fee burden of farmers in China is higher than that of urban residents, but the public products they receive are not only minimal, but also have to pay much higher prices than urban residents for certain quasi-public services (such as basic education, public health and basic medical services, public telecommunications services, power supply, fuel supply, clean water supply, and public security management services).

After 2006, agricultural taxes were completely abolished. The reason for the abolition was because the exploitation was too heavy. In 1999, the men of Jiangxi, a revolutionary old area, fired the first shot. In addition to the surface agricultural tax, various places would increase taxes under different names. A man from Fengcheng, Jiangxi, questioned this and was forcibly detained and died after being forced to study in a small dark room. In total, four towns near Fengcheng were surrounded and destroyed by tens of thousands of farmers carrying farming tools, burying the township government building and burying the township head directly. Where there is exploitation, there will be resistance. In 2000, Jiangxi abolished agricultural taxes. Since then, the agricultural tax was officially abolished nationwide in 2006. It was a counter-oppression achieved at the cost of blood and tears.

2. What have most of the people who receive high pensions contributed?

According to the Notice on Deepening the Reform of the Enterprise Employee Pension Insurance System, the basic pension insurance premium is jointly paid by the enterprise and the individual employee. The number of years that the enterprise and the individual employee jointly pay the pension insurance premium is called the "payment period". Before the implementation of the individual payment system, the continuous length of service of employees can be regarded as the payment period.

In other words, it is exchanged for the amount they paid and their length of service. How much did they pay back then? I can only find evidence from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security as early as 1993. In 1993, the total surplus was 28.8 billion yuan (which means that the pension account only had this much left. The people who could retire and withdraw in 1993 were those who fought and shed blood in the 1940s and 1950s. They deserve to receive it. Here, let's stop those who say that those who fought and shed blood should be silenced and see what contributions the people who receive pensions now have made?). Before that, how much they paid or whether they paid at all, everyone can do some research. The following data is excerpted from the annual statistical bulletins of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

In 1992, a total of 31.68 billion yuan was collected for the basic pension insurance fund throughout the year; in 1993, a total of 46.1 billion yuan was collected for the social insurance fund nationwide; in 1994, a total of 70.7 billion yuan was collected for the basic pension insurance fund nationwide; in 1995, a total of 97.07 billion yuan was collected for the social insurance fund, and the number of urban employees was 149.08 million, with an average contribution of 8 cents per person for pension.

3. Comparing the contributions and the so-called payment of pensions, let's see how much they can receive now.

First of all, with basic knowledge, the group of people who are now retired and receive pensions should be the ones who paid an average of 8 cents for pensions back then, right? (those born in the 1960s and 1970s)

In 2020, the expenditure on pension insurance was 5.4656 trillion yuan, with 127.62 million insured retirees, and an average of 42,800 yuan per person; in 2021, the expenditure on pension funds was 6.0197 trillion yuan, with 131.57 million insured retirees, and an average of 45,000 yuan per person.

For rural areas, this is the data from the on-site investigation by the YouTuber Hu Chenfeng, with a monthly pension of 107 yuan, which is a small fraction of the average pension for urban employees.

4. Where does this pension come from?

As we can see, on average, the amount of pension received by an urban employee is 35 times that of a rural farmer. This is the gift received by the people who paid an average of 8 cents for pensions back then. Although money can be generated out of thin air, it also requires a basic foundation of trust. So where does this money come from?

Answer: In 2005, the rural population was 745.44 million. In 2016, the rural population was 589.73 million. In other words, 150 million people became urban residents in 10 years, and most of the urban residents now have to pay social security. However, a large part of the social security paid by these people is used to support those who paid an average of 8 cents for pensions back then. On the one hand, they pay social security for these people, and on the other hand, they have to delay their retirement. Most importantly, when they enter the city, they have to pay a large amount of urbanization tax (housing prices). And it is very likely that those who received 45,000 yuan in pension back then were allocated housing.

The above conclusions are supported by data from government websites and publicly available information. If there are any calculation issues, please correct them.