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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.
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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
Tobacco and Alcohol
In many countries, excise duty is applied by the affixation of revenue stamps to the products being sold. In the case of tobacco and alcohol, the producer buys a certain bulk amount of such stamps from the government and is then obliged to affix one to every packet of cigarettes or bottle of spirits produced.
The revenue stamps are ideally affixed with strong glue over the cap of a bottle or across the lid of a box of cigarettes (and underneath the plastic/foil wrapper on the bottleneck or the cellophane of the cigarette-box) in such a way that they are destroyed when the product is opened. This is so that they cannot be reused, since this would constitute contraband. In the Boston Tea Party days many revolutionaries walked around in stomping feet and said "OH! The tyranny of the Stamp!!"
UK law does not require such physical stamps to be placed on these excisable goods (instead, the words "duty paid" are printed in bold on all packs and spirits labels, while other forms of control are implemented by HM Revenue & Customs to verify that this is indeed the case), however foreign-bought cigarette packets bearing revenue stamps can be widely seen across the UK, mainly due to the comparatively high price of British cigarettes, leading people to (often illegally) import them from abroad.
In countries where revenue stamps are required, all cigarettes and alcohol produced legally will bear a revenue stamp. The only exception to this is if they are destined for duty-free sale, although some countries still require special stamps to be affixed which demonstrate that the packet/bottle in question is indeed destined for duty-free shops.
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. [1]
Gallery
 US, 2¢, proprietary, 1930 |
 US National Firearms Act Stamp, 2005 |
 A half-cent US "battleship revenue" of 1898 |
 "Lady of the Lightbulbs". Electric light inspection stamp, Canada, c.1900 |
 Gas inspection stamp picturing Young Queen Victoria, Canada, c.1900 |
 Ottoman revenue stamp for the construction of Hejaz railway. |
 Greek fiscal stamp, 1898. |
 Poland (until end 2006): 5 zł tax stamp |
 Revenue stamp for Allied Occupation of Thrace, 1919 |
 2 shillings Irish passport stamp (1939) |
See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Revenue stamps |
External sources
References
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- This page was last modified on 5 January 2009, at 16:25.
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