18 janvier 1790
5 décembre 1791
France. Comité des Revenus publics
France. Comité d'Impositions (1790-1791)
France. Comité de l'Imposition (1790-1791)
- décret du 18 janvier 1790 pour la formation d’un comité d’Impositions.
- décret du 13 octobre 1791 portant établissement de sept comités, dont un comité des Contributions publiques.
- décret du 15 octobre 1791 sur l’organisation des comités de l’Assemblée.
- décret du 5 décembre 1791 sur l’organisation des comités de finances et des Domaines.
- décret du 7 fructidor an II sur l’organisation des comités de la Convention nationale.
Le comité est initialement formé de onze membres (décret du 18 janvier 1790) : le duc de La Rochefoucauld, Dauchy, Defermon, Roederer, Monneron, Jary, Dupont de Nemours, l’évêque d’Autun, du Fort, le baron d’Allarde et La Borde de Méreville.
L’Assemblée législative porte le nombre de membres à vingt-quatre, élus pour trois mois et renouvelables par moitié (décret du 15 octobre 1791). Le résultat du scrutin annoncé le 23 octobre déclare membres du comité les députés suivants : Becquey, Chaubry de Laroche, Mallarmé, Vérité, Jollivet, Turpetin, Allut, Coubé, Tronchon, Lefranc, Depère, Cretet, Delaunay (d’Angers), Dupertuis, Baignoux, Jaucourt, Cuel, Belle, Lebreton (Denis), Quillet, Fayolle, Constant-Saint-Estève et Bigot de Préameneu. « Pierrot et Prudhomme ayant réuni un nombre égal de voix, le plus âgé des deux doit entrer dans le comité pour compléter le nombre de 24 membres ».
La création d’un comité spécialement chargé de la question des impositions s’inscrit dans le double contexte d’une dette publique considérable et de dysfonctionnements majeurs dans la recette des impositions. La fonction première du comité consiste donc à proposer des moyens pour optimiser et accélérer le recouvrement des impositions sans aggraver la charge fiscale des contribuables, assurant ainsi une augmentation des revenus de l’État politiquement et socialement acceptable.
La plupart des impôts indirects liés à la consommation et la Ferme générale sont supprimés entre 1790 et 1791. Ne subsistent que l’administration des Douanes et celle de l’Enregistrement. L’Assemblée établit de nouvelles contributions directes portant sur la propriété immobilière, les revenus mobiliers et ceux du commerce et de l’industrie. Pour accroître le rendement de la contribution foncière, la Constituante inaugure l’élaboration d’un système cadastral (décret des 23 novembre - 1er décembre 1790), qui ne sera effectif que sous le Consulat.
Les contributions publiques ne sont d’abord que l’une des nombreuses attributions du comité des Finances de l’Assemblée nationale constituante, comité divisé en sections, dont l’une est précisément chargée de la question des contributions. Cette section s’émancipe toutefois du comité, le 18 janvier 1790, à la faveur d’un décret de l’Assemblée ordonnant la formation d’un « comité d’Impositions », auquel celui des Finances est tenu de remettre « les instructions et matériaux qu’il a rassemblés sur les impositions actuelles ».
Il revient ainsi au comité de préparer le travail législatif concernant les impositions tant directes (foncières et mobilières) qu’indirectes. Le consensus sur la nécessité de revoir l’ensemble du système d’imposition d’Ancien Régime mène le comité à en proposer un nouveau, fondé sur une répartition plus juste et des moyens de perception plus efficace, afin d’assurer à l’État les revenus nécessaires pour faire face tant à ses dépenses courantes qu’au règlement progressif de la dette publique. À la demande de l’Assemblée, le comité présente ainsi les enjeux de cette réforme et l’organisation de son travail (AD/I/38, dossier 1, pièce 3) :
« Il n’y avait point en France un système de contributions publiques ; toutes devaient leur origine au hasard, aux idées particulières de tel ou tel administrateur, & surtout aux droits que diverses provinces, villes, & classes de citoyens prétendaient avoir de ne pas contribuer, ou de ne contribuer que d’une certaine manière, & à l’espèce d’adresse que le despotisme même était obligé d’employer pour éluder ces prétendus droits, & pour tromper le peuple sur la somme exorbitante des impositions par leur variété & par les noms qu’il leur donnait. […]
[Le comité] a cru devoir méditer d’abord sur les principes de l’impôt, ou plutôt, des contributions publiques, car il pense que le nom d’impôt doit disparaître de notre langue, avec la nomenclature barbare qui en classait les nombreuses & vexatoires espèces, & que le nom de contribution exprime mieux la part que chaque citoyen doit fournir aux frais nécessaires de la société. Il a cherché quelle est la source des richesses, & quelle est la partie de revenus qui doit la contribution : il a consulté les ouvrages où ces questions importantes ont été traitées, & s’est aidé des lumières de citoyens éclairés qui en ont fait une étude approfondie, & qui se sont prêtés avec zèle aux conférences qu’il leur a proposées. Il a discuté les moyens de déterminer la quotité des contributions, d’en faire l’assiette, de régler la forme de leur perception ; il a vu avec douleur que les besoins d’un État chargé d’une dette immense, & la nécessité de laisser reprendre aux richesses leur cours naturel que les erreurs, les déprédations & l’avidité de l’ancienne administration ont tant interverti, ne permettraient pas à l’Assemblée nationale d’adopter, dans toute leur étendue, les véritables principes ; mais il croit qu’en fondant la constitution, elle doit au moins les déclarer, & que, s’en écartant avec connaissance de cause, le moins possible, mais autant que les circonstances actuelles l’exigeront, elle doit donner ces principes aux législatures pour bases de leurs opérations, & leur recommander de ramener successivement le système des contributions à la simplicité & à la clarté qui doivent caractériser l’administration d’un peuple libre.
Il a pris connaissance de la nature, de l’assiette, de la répartition, des formes de perception & de la somme des revenus publics actuels ; il a appelé plusieurs des personnes qui dirigent, régissent ou exploitent les différentes parties, & il a embrassé avec satisfaction la certitude consolante que si l’État a besoin encore, pour un temps assez long, d’une masse considérable de contributions, elle sera cependant inférieure à celle qui grève actuellement les contribuables, que ce soulagement réel dans la somme versée au Trésor public sera bien plus sensible encore par la diminution des frais de perception, par l’abolition de ces formes inquisitives & vexatoires qui accroissaient la charge, & par un moyen qu’il espère pouvoir présenter, de soulager la génération présente, en prolongeant une partie de cette charge sur les générations futures qui n’en seront point lésées, puisqu’elles la verront s’éteindre graduellement, & que les heureux effets qu’elles recueilleront chaque année d’une bonne administration, compenseront avec avantage le secours qu’elles auront prêté à celles de qui elles tiendront le bienfait inestimable de la liberté.
Occupé de former ce plan général, qui ne pourra recevoir son exécution que l’année prochaine, le comité de l’Imposition a vu avec plaisir le comité des Finances proposer, dès cette année, la suppression de la gabelle & de plusieurs autres impôts condamnés depuis longtemps par l’opinion publique, & leur remplacement sous une forme plus simple, & avec le profit pour le peuple, de frais de perception très considérables, de frais de vexations qui ne l’étaient pas moins, & même avec un soulagement effectif sur la somme de l’impôt : il verra de même avec satisfaction tous les moyens que ce comité proposera pour pourvoir aux besoins de l’année courante, sans embarrasser les perceptions de la prochaine.
Mais ces heureuses suppressions nécessitant une opération très prompte pour celle des traites intérieures, il a cru devoir suspendre la suite de son travail sur les autres parties, pour s’occuper, de concert avec le comité d’Agriculture & de Commerce, des traites & du tabac, deux branches de revenu si étroitement liées l’une à l’autre, qu’il est impossible de les séparer dans la discussion, & de ne pas proposer à l’Assemblée nationale une décision combinée sur les deux objets. Les deux comités espèrent bientôt être en état de l’en entretenir.
Le comité de l’Imposition reprendra ensuite l’ordre qu’il s’était prescrit ; & le temps utilement employé dans l’examen des traites & du tabac, ne sera pas perdu pour le reste, puisqu’il recevra, dans cet intervalle, des mémoires & des renseignements qu’il a demandés tant à Paris que dans les provinces ».
Le comité est prorogé par l’Assemblée législative, sous le nom de comité des Revenus publics, avec des attributions similaires : il demeure « chargé de présenter les moyens de pourvoir aux dépenses jugées nécessaires, de préparer les lois pour l’administration, soit des contributions, soit des autres revenus du Trésor public » (décret du 13 octobre 1791). Le comité est supprimé lors de la réorganisation générale des comités financiers de l’Assemblée législative (décret du 5 décembre 1791) et ses attributions, transférées au comité de l’ordinaire des Finances, établi à cette occasion. La Convention thermidorienne entérine le regroupement des attributions au sein du comité des Finances, chargé, entre autres, de « la surveillance des dépenses et revenus publics » (décret du 7 fructidor an II) ; les « contributions » y représentent, comme précédemment, une simple section.
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