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Revenue stamp
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A revenue stamp, tax stamp or fiscal stamp is a type of adhesive label used to collect taxes or fees on various items. Many countries of the world have used them, for documents (often called stamp duty), tobacco products, liquor, drugs, playing cards, hunting licenses and other kinds of things.
While revenue stamps often resemble postage stamps, they were not normally intended for use on mail and therefore did not receive a postal cancellation.
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A revenue stamp, tax stamp or fiscal stamp is a type of adhesive label used to collect taxes or fees on various items. Many countries of the world have used them, for documents (often called stamp duty), tobacco products, liquor, drugs, playing cards, hunting licenses and other kinds of things.
While revenue stamps often resemble postage stamps, they were not normally intended for use on mail and therefore did not receive a postal cancellation. (Some countries did issue stamps valid for both postage and revenue, but this practice is rare now). Revenue stamps can display cancellation markings, three types being by manuscript signature of the person canceling the stamp (usually with date), by hand stamp identifying the canceling agent (also usually with date), or by punch; otherwise, they may be simply affixed to a product in such a way so as to be invalidated or destroyed upon its unpackaging.
Description
Revenue stamps are securities, usually printed by the finance ministry of the relevant country. In many countries, they are as detailed in their design as banknotes; they are often made from the same type of paper as banknotes and many contain holograms and other anti-counterfeit devices. The reason for these measures is that excise duty is extremely expensive, in most EU countries accounting for around half the market price of the product.
History
The use of revenue stamps goes back further than that of postage stamps; the stamps of the Stamp Act of the 18th century were revenues. Their use became widespread in the 19th century, partly inspired by the success of the postage stamp, and partly motivated by the desire to streamline government operations, the presence of a revenue stamp being an indication that the item in question had already paid the necessary fees. Revenue stamps have become less commonly seen in the 21st century, with the rise of computerization and the ability to use numbers to track payments accurately.
There are a great many kinds of revenue stamps in the world, and it is likely that some are still uncataloged. Both national and subnational entities have issued them. While some use a single design for all forms of fee payment, others have introduced distinct designs usable for only a single type of item. In certain periods government have combined the uses of postage and revenue stamps, calling them "postal fiscals" or inscribing them "Postage and Revenue".
By Category
Court Fees
One of the earliest uses of adhesive stamps to pay tax was the Court Fee system, set up in the Indian feudal states as early as 1797, almost 50 years before the first postal stamps.
Although India is only one of several countries that have used tax stamps on legal documents, it was one of the most prolific users. The practice is almost entirely stopped now, partly due to the prevalence of forgeries which cost the issuing government revenue.
Tobacco and Alcohol
In many countries, excise duty is applied by the affixation of excise stamps to the products being sold. In the case of tobacco and alcohol, the producer buys a certain quantity of such stamps from the government and is then obliged to affix one to every packet of cigarettes or bottle of spirits produced.
The excise stamp is usually placed on the box/bottle in such a way as to be both easily visible and easily destroyed upon the unpackaging of the product.
Gambling
Gambling was for a time subject to stamp duty, whereby a revenue stamp had to be placed on the ace of spades - which eventually led to the elaborate designs that evolved on this card in most packs. Stamp duty was applied to playing cards, ostensibly because cards were defined as being a type of document (as it was originally only documents which were subject to stamp duty), however this could also be seen as a type of excise duty on gambling, since it was not only cards that were taxed by the Stamp Act of 1765, but also dice.
Gallery
See also
External links
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- (Constitution and Rules; The Revenue Journal Index to Volumes and Authors; Periodicals; The Society’s Library Rules; Books — Reviews and Library List)
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- (in Russian)
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