Provisional Financial Regulations of the Chinese Soviet Republic

(December 1931)

Article 1: In order to implement financial unification, all state tax revenues shall be collected exclusively by state financial organs (the Ministries of Finance at the central, provincial, county, and district levels, and municipal finance sections) in accordance with the tax rules promulgated by the Provisional Central Government. Local governments shall not be permitted to set tax rules on their own or collect taxes. However, when commencing tax collection each year or each season, collection may only proceed after receiving a general order from the Central Ministry of Finance stipulating the time and procedures for tax collection. The Central Ministry of Finance may designate banks to collect taxes on its behalf.

Article 2: All tax revenues, income from government-operated enterprises, fines, confiscated property, and other receipts collected by financial organs at all levels shall in all cases be promptly transferred or directly sent to the Central Ministry of Finance or to banks designated by the Central Ministry of Finance. Financial organs at all levels shall not, prior to receiving a payment order from a higher-level financial organ, dispose of, withhold, use to offset, or make up for any items on their own authority, nor shall they delay payment.

Article 3: All administrative expenditures at various levels, and all expenses for military provisions and miscellaneous costs, shall uniformly be budgeted by the financial organ of the respective department, submitted to its immediate next-higher-level financial organ for examination, and reported to the Central Ministry of Finance for approval. All payments shall be made uniformly by the Central Ministry of Finance on the basis of the approved budgets.

Article 4: All financial organs directly subordinate to the Central Ministry of Finance (the Ministries of Finance of the various provincial governments, the General Supply Department of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission) shall compile and submit their budgets for the following month before the 25th day of each month and send them to the Central Ministry of Finance for examination and approval. Financial organs at all levels shall compile and submit their budgets for the following month before the 20th day of each month and send them to their immediate next-higher-level financial organs for examination, compilation, and consolidated reporting.

Article 5: After approving the budget of its directly subordinate financial organs, the Central Ministry of Finance shall, on the basis of the budget, issue a payment notification to that financial organ. That financial organ shall, in turn, approve the budget of its directly subordinate financial organs and issue notifications accordingly.

Article 6: After receiving this payment notification, financial organs at all levels shall fill out a fund receipt certificate, which must be jointly signed by the responsible person of the financial organ and the responsible person of the corresponding government organ or Party and military organ (for example, a provincial government's fund receipt certificate must bear the signatures of the Minister of Finance and the Chairman of the Provincial Government) before funds can be drawn from the immediate next-higher-level financial organ.

Article 7: All financial organs directly subordinate to the Central Ministry of Finance must submit their final account statements for the preceding month to the Central Ministry of Finance for examination and approval before the 10th day of each month. Financial organs at all levels must submit their final account statements for the preceding month to their immediate next-higher-level financial organs for examination and approval before the 5th day of each month.

Article 8: When submitting final account statements, financial organs at all levels shall affix all their supporting documents into a document register and submit it together with the statements to their immediate next-higher-level financial organ. These final account supporting documents shall be preserved at the respective next-higher-level financial organ and need not be forwarded further upward (for example, the final account supporting documents of a division headquarters shall be preserved at the army corps supply department; the final account supporting documents of a district Ministry of Finance shall be preserved at the county Ministry of Finance). However, when a higher-level financial organ deems it necessary, it may at any time requisition the supporting documents, forms, registers, and required materials from any lower-level financial organ.

Article 9: For expenditures for which no supporting document can be obtained, a substitute document shall be filled out by the person handling the transaction, who must also state the reason why a supporting document could not be obtained.

Article 10: The budget statements and final account statements of financial organs at all levels shall be prepared in two identical copies, one copy to be retained by the organ itself, and one copy to be sent to its immediate next-higher-level financial organ for record.

Article 11: All account books, forms, registers, supporting documents, and the like used by financial organs at all levels in connection with financial matters must uniformly comply with the standardized formats prescribed by the Central Ministry of Finance. The continued use of old-style account books or the creation of novel formats is not permitted.

Article 12: For all kinds of account books and supporting documents, the unit of account for silver money shall uniformly be converted into silver dollars for calculation, and the current market price used in the conversion must be clearly noted (how many small silver coins or copper coins equal one silver dollar). However, if the receipts are in the form of gold bars, silver ingots, or paper currency that cannot be accepted at full face value, the original items shall be delivered to the Central Ministry of Finance and shall not be converted into value on one's own authority.

Article 13: The retention period for the account books, forms, registers, supporting documents, etc., of financial organs at all levels shall be five years. Upon expiration, they may be destroyed under the supervision of the responsible person of that organ.

Article 14: These Regulations shall take effect from the date of promulgation.

Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Central Executive Committee

Vice-Chairmen: Xiang Ying, Zhang Guotao