Tax Farmer Ferme Generale

About Tax Farmer Ferme Generale

The Ferme Generale was the tax farming system of pre Revolutionary France. Tax farmers, or fermiers, paid the crown a fixed sum for the right to collect certain taxes. The fermiers kept whatever they collected above the paid amount. The Ferme Generale collected the gabelle salt tax, aides on beverages, and traites customs duties. The system was enormously profitable for the fermiers, who became some of the wealthiest people in France. The Ferme Generale was notorious for corruption and brutality. Tax collectors were among the most hated figures in pre Revolutionary France. The Ferme Generale was abolished during the French Revolution in 1791. Several former fermiers were executed during the Reign of Terror. The Ferme Generale is remembered as a symbol of the corruption and injustice of the Ancien Regime.