Abstract: During the 70-90’s of the 19th century, the relatively stable social environment facilitated an unprecedented development of China’s commodity economy. The widely spread western finance and tax theory helped the decision-makers of Qing government understand that stamp duty was an efficient item of tax accepted far and wide by Western countries. So that during the process of actively exploring and opening up new sources of revenue, the Qing government favored very much toward the stamp duty which took the commercial certificates as the major levying objects, in 1903 and 1908 it conducted two pilots. However, both of the two pilots failed to extend the stamp duty, which left us a profound lesson that the setup of tax system must refer to the social and political background and the level of economic development.

Key words: stamp duty; tax system; finance; late Qing Dynasty