The likin or lijin was a form of domestic customs tax in the Chinese Empire and Republic, which was first introduced as a means of financing the largely locally recruited armies to suppress the Taiping Rebellion.
The likin tax was first introduced in 1853 by censor Lei Yixian[1] in the area around Yangzhou as a way of raising funds in the campaigns against local rebels.
As the central government was short of revenue, the imperial court sanctioned the tax and it quickly became an important source of funds for the campaign against the Taiping and Nian rebellions.
The tax was levied on an ad valorem basis on goods in transit between provinces and on shops,[citation needed] with rates ranging from 2 to 10 per cent.
[2] After the Taipings were suppressed in 1864, the likin became a permanent feature of the Chinese tax system and it became an important source of revenue for local government.