In the early 1950s, the People's Republic of China managed to collect a record amount of tax revenues from both the rural and urban sectors. The government could claim tax receipts at least three times those of the displaced Nationalist government during its golden days. This achievement has been attributed to the Communist Party's ability to maximize the taxed population, its firm grasp over tax resources, and its systemization of tax data and tax collection procedures. However, this article focuses on Tianjin and Shanghai to paint a more complicated picture. The inauguration of a highly centralized Party-state, the ability to organize taxed individuals and households, the mobilization of the population through manipulated class struggle and an intensive campaign of confession all enabled the government to target the owners of private capital, which also contributed to the success of tax maximization.