Abstract: This article explores the peculiarities of the system of mandatory payments and taxation in the USSR in the early 1970s. The author traces the amendments made to sectoral legislation (land, water, administrative, civil, etc.) and the corresponding improvement of the mechanism of collection of charges in this historical period. Special attention is given to the role of mandatory payments to be paid by rural population, changes in the procedure for collecting tax on sales, as well as clarification of the legal status and competence of inspection authorities. It is noted that the basic taxes paid by rural population in the early 1970s were the agricultural tax, income tax (from citizens who have income from agriculture in cities, workers, summer villages, and rural settlements) and ground rent. Analysis is conducted on the corresponding legislation and practice of its implementation. The conclusion is made that despite a range of decisions made with regards to providing incentives for agricultural tax, the cancellation of charges for the owners of livestock along with the state tax on horses of individual farms, reduced income tax rates and tax on single persons and citizens who have small families, the general the task for significant reduction of tax burden on the population has not been resolved. This was substantiated by fact that the mechanism of income taxation has undergone isolated changes, but its essential construct has not been revised. In the early 1970s, no reforms within the system of mandatory payments and taxation have been conducted in the Soviet Union.