Activities of excise supervision of the Ministry of finance of the Romanov‘s Empire on the Left-Bank Ukraine during the introducion of excise Wine Reform in the second half of XIX century
Authors: Ponyrko M.P. 
Published: January 2022

The purpose of the work – is to generalize how the regulatory and administrative transformations that took place in the central office of excise supervision of the Romanov Empire, affected the activities of excise officials on the Left-Bank Ukraine, in the context of excise wine reform in the second half XIX century. Based on the official reports of the Ministry of Finance, professional research information, especially contemporary publicists and archival documents for the most complete verification of data, the normative transformations of excise supervisory bodies, during the excise wine reform on the Left-Bank Ukraine, during the second half of the XIX century. It is noted that the excise wine reform led to an improvement in the quality of work, in particular the structures of excise supervision, as the wine excise was levied with overfulfillment.
As a result of the introduction of the excise system for regulating the circulation of alcoholic beverages, managers of the provincial excise duties were given administrative powers to increase the budget content of the revenue side, which previously belonged to the central administration, which confirmed the strengthening of regional bureaucracy.
It is noted that one of the most important requirements for the regulation of reforms was the maximum reductions of costs, including the maintenance of employees. It is revealed that the preconditions for the increase in profits from the circulation of alcoholic beverages were due to an increase in the excise duty on alcoholic beverages rather than an increase in drinking, and occurred mainly in the interests of the treasury, with an increase in patent fees for alcohol. In particular, similar trends were implemented in the Left-Bank Ukraine. Moreover, the vast majority of taxpayers were small in their production capacity and human resources, so it was allowed to obtain patents for retail outlets for a period of six months. It was emphasized that the legal regulation and practice of excise departments have changed in the direction of increasing administrative control over the principle of free retail, alcoholic beverages, which was the basic of excise system.
After the introduction of the excise system for regulating the circulation of alcoholic beverages, the government’s control over distilling and wine trade was strengthened, which included the expansion and complication of excise supervision, and which actually expanded the staff of provincial and county excise administrations.
In the context of the relationship between the state treasury and local governments in general, excise supervisors acted from the position of the central budget, which reduced local budget revenues, which were “tied” to subsidies from the central budget, and led in particular to local communities to promote patentless alcohol trade.
The transformation of excise supervisory bodies that took place during the excise wine reform on the Left-Bank Ukraine during the second half of the 19th century was not fully used, taking into account only partially the production capacity and social base for taxation in the region.