Landrentestelsel
Taxation system in the Dutch East Indies
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The Landrentestelsel (literally: Land Tax System) (1816-1830) was a system of taxation levied in the Dutch East Indies after regaining control of Java in 1816, by the Treaty of Paris, in which the indigenous population paid a predetermined portion (half, two-fifths, or one-third)[1] of its agricultural products grown or a similar sum to the colonial administration. Predated by the Landrente (Land Tax) introduced to the island colony under British administration by the Lieutenant Governor General Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1811.[2] It was replaced with the Cultivation System implemented by Johannes van den Bosch in 1830.[3][4]
Overview
Although the British rule lasted only five years, the system it left behind was maintained and considered the applicable legal provisions. One was the landrente, developed by the subsequent regime into land tax. The Dutch colonial government still enforced this land tax as a source of revenue for the state budget. In principle, the Dutch Commissioner-General followed most of the steps Raffles took. In 1818, a new regulation regarding the land tax was issued and piloted. However, this only reinforced the conditions created by Raffles, and the Commissioners-General were still determining what changes could be achieved as they were more preoccupied with politics and security than with research in the field.
Village levies provided opportunities for the practice of tax farming by individuals who could afford it in the first place. Due to the government's inability to conduct land research down to the village level, they entrusted it to village rulers or natives above the village. As a result, supra-village officials responsible for the village could enter into transactions with foreigners. Usually, private entities taxed the land throughout the village. These transactions and practices were prevalent between 1816 and 1825 and led to massive exploitation as there was no clear standard for determining tax rates in each village. These conditions worsened and became one of the factors that led to the Java War.[5][6]
