From Revenue Farming to State Monopoly: The Political Economy of Taxation in Colonial Indonesia, 1816–1942

Abstract

The centre point of this study is the period of the reforms of the tax system in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In order to understand the rationale behind these reforms, it is necessary to analyse the workings and effects of the preceding tax regime, the revenue farming. The timing and nature of the tax reforms reflect the evolution of the colonial state. Therefore, the goal of this study is to answer the following questions. Why did the colonial government reform and reorganize its tax system in the way it did? What were the effects of revenue farming and its substitute system on society? What clues do these give to the changing nature of the colonial state in Indonesia? Using these questions, this study will examine two interrelated aspects of the practice of colonial taxation in Indonesia. First, the governmental aspect including the organizational structure, aims and mentalities of the colonial state, and the importance of tax revenue to the financial framework of the colonial state. Second, it is an attempt to cast light on the side of those governed, including effects of changing fiscal policies and the reactions engendered in different groups of society.