484 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY of indirect taxes on consumption and movements of commodities across France's numerous internal borders (droits,traites,aides,and gabelles).The king collected various feudal dues and revenues from the monopolies that he owned,including coin minting,salt,postal service,tobacco,parts of foreign trade,gunpowder manufacture,and the lottery. The taille was collected differently in various regions.Within the kingdom's historic core,a system of direct allocation of tax liabilities by royal officers had evolved(the areas under this system were called pays d'election).The monies were collected by the receveurs,venal offi- cers who pledged to pay the Treasury the amounts assessed according to a specific timetable.They regularly gave the Treasury rescriptions, or claims on themselves due a year hence,which the Treasury resold at discount.The receveurs earned interest on the funds collected and also received a commission on the taxes collected (see Bosher [1970] for details).Notes issued by the receveurs and billets issued by the Fermes Generales were called anticipation notes.These notes formed the floating debt system and also allowed private parties to transfer funds to and from Paris in the absence of a developed banking system. More "recently"absorbed territories such as Brittany,Burgundy, Provence,Artois(fifteenth century),Bearn,Foix,Bigorre(sixteenth century),Franche-Comte,and Flanders(seventeenth century)negoti- ated their global tax dues with the king through the provincial Es- tates,which met regularly and were charged with collecting tax mon- ies.Other direct taxes (the capitation in 1695)followed the same mode of assessment as the taille.Repeatedly throughout the eighteenth cen- tury,attempts were made to impose income taxes without respect to status or privilege.These attempts failed in terms of both the modest amounts collected in 1789(12 percent of revenues)and the persisting irregularities in assessment. Indirect taxes and monopolies were leased to syndicates of individ- uals who contracted with the king.Tax farmers collected taxes within the limits of the law in exchange for a specified amount of money for each year of the lease.The lease stated a minimum payment to the farmers and a rule for sharing the excess over that minimum between the king and the farmers.After 1726,the Fermes Generales collected all consumption taxes and internal duties,and managed the salt monopoly.14 A last form of tax collection called the regie was collected by govern- ment employees who received a salary and a commission.Louis XIV 14 As a variant of tax farming,the financiers paid a capital sum corresponding to the present value of a tax.484 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY of indirect taxes on consumption and movements of commodities across France's numerous internal borders (droits, traites, aides, and gabelles). The king collected various feudal dues and revenues from the monopolies that he owned, including coin minting, salt, postal service, tobacco, parts of foreign trade, gunpowder manufacture, and the lottery. The taille was collected differently in various regions. Within the kingdom's historic core, a system of direct allocation of tax liabilities by royal officers had evolved (the areas under this system were called pays d'election). The monies were collected by the receveurs, venal offi￾cers who pledged to pay the Treasury the amounts assessed according to a specific timetable. They regularly gave the Treasury rescriptions, or claims on themselves due a year hence, which the Treasury resold at discount. The receveurs earned interest on the funds collected and also received a commission on the taxes collected (see Bosher [1970] for details). Notes issued by the receveurs and billets issued by the Fermes Ge'nerales were called anticipation notes. These notes formed the floating debt system and also allowed private parties to transfer funds to and from Paris in the absence of a developed banking system. More "recently" absorbed territories such as Brittany, Burgundy, Provence, Artois (fifteenth century), Bearn, Foix, Bigorre (sixteenth century), Franche-Comte, and Flanders (seventeenth century) negoti￾ated their global tax dues with the king through the provincial Es￾tates, which met regularly and were charged with collecting tax mon￾ies. Other direct taxes (the capitation in 1695) followed the same mode of assessment as the taille. Repeatedly throughout the eighteenth cen￾tury, attempts were made to impose income taxes without respect to status or privilege. These attempts failed in terms of both the modest amounts collected in 1789 (12 percent of revenues) and the persisting irregularities in assessment. Indirect taxes and monopolies were leased to syndicates of individ￾uals who contracted with the king. Tax farmers collected taxes within the limits of the law in exchange for a specified amount of money for each year of the lease. The lease stated a minimum payment to the farmers and a rule for sharing the excess over that minimum between the king and the farmers. After 1726, the Fermes Ge'ne'rales collected all consumption taxes and internal duties, and managed the salt monopoly.14 A last form of tax collection called the regie was collected by govern￾ment employees who received a salary and a commission. Louis XIV 14 As a variant of tax farming, the financiers paid a capital sum corresponding to the present value of a tax