The income tax is a central pillar of the modern fiscal state because of its revenue-raising capacity and administrative sophistication. Existing accounts point to interstate war and class conflict as key drivers of modern fiscal breakthroughs. In this article, we evaluate a third explanation for the origins of fiscal capacity that highlights the importance of intraelite competition for political and economic power in times of rapid industrialization. Modern forms of taxation generated a conflict between industry and agriculture over the distribution of the tax burden across sectors. The presence of electoral institutions that connected tax payments to voting rights created opportunities to overcome this sectoral divide and facilitated the formation of a political consensus for fiscal innovation. The political coalition supporting income tax adoption included higher-income industrial and agricultural elites who anticipated fiscal and electoral gains associated with the adoption of the new tax. Drawing on parliamentary debates in Prussia and additional district-level data, we document both the origins and electoral and economic consequences of the new income tax. We show that the adoption of a highly sophisticated income tax in 1891 shifted the tax burden from land to industry and diluted the political influence of the middle class. The findings clarify the coalitional dynamics leading to fiscal tax adoption in nondemocratic contexts.

所得税是现代财政国家的主要支柱，因为它具有提高收入的能力和先进的行政管理能力。现有资料指出，州际战争和阶级冲突是现代财政突破的主要驱动力。在本文中，我们评估了对财政能力起源的第三种解释，该解释强调了在快速工业化时期，内部精英竞争对政治和经济实力的重要性。现代税收形式在跨部门的税收负担分配上引起了工农业之间的冲突。将税收与投票权联系起来的选举机构的存在为克服这一部门分歧创造了机会，并促进了财政创新的政治共识的形成。支持所得税采用的政治联盟包括收入较高的工农业精英，他们预计与采用新税种有关的财政和选举收益。根据普鲁士的议会辩论和地区的其他数据，我们记录了新所得税的来源以及选举和经济后果。我们证明，1891年采用了高度复杂的所得税，使税收负担从土地转移到了工业，并稀释了中产阶级的政治影响力。研究结果阐明了在非民主背景下导致采用税收的联盟动力。根据普鲁士的议会辩论和地区的其他数据，我们记录了新所得税的来源以及选举和经济后果。我们证明，1891年采用了高度复杂的所得税，使税收负担从土地转移到了工业，并稀释了中产阶级的政治影响力。研究结果阐明了在非民主背景下导致采用税收的联盟动力。根据普鲁士的议会辩论和地区的其他数据，我们记录了新所得税的来源以及选举和经济后果。我们证明，1891年采用了高度复杂的所得税，使税收负担从土地转移到了工业，并稀释了中产阶级的政治影响力。研究结果阐明了在非民主背景下导致采用税收的联盟动力。