Revenue Act 1889

PART III Stamps

15 Repeal of 52 & 53 Vict. c.7 s.18, and substitution of other provisions therefor

Section eighteen of the Customs and Inland Revenue Act, 1889, is hereby repealed, and there shall be substituted therefor the following, which shall commence and take effect as from the date of the passing of that Act:—

(1) Any contract or agreement made in England or Ireland under seal, or under hand only, or made in Scotland, with or without any clause of- registration, for the sale of any equitable estate or interest in any property, or for the sale of any estate or interest in any property except lands, tenements, hereditaments, or heritages, or property locally situate out of the United Kingdom, or goods, wares, or merchandise, or stock, or marketable securities, or any ship or vessel, or part interest, share, or property of or in any ship or vessel, shall be charged with the same ad valorem duty, to be paid by the purchaser, as if it were an actual conveyance on sale of the estate, interest, or property agreed or contracted to be sold.

(2) Where the purchaser has paid the said ad valorem duty, and before having obtained a conveyance or transfer of the property, enters into a contract or agreement for the sale of the same, the contract or agreement shall be charged, if the consideration for such sale is in excess of the consideration for the original sale, with the ad valorem duty payable in respect of such excess consideration, and in any other case with the fixed duty of ten shillings or of sixpence, as the case may require, according to the law in force prior to the passing of the [52 & 53 Vict. c. 7.] Customs and Inland Revenue Act, 1889.

(3) Where duty shall have been duly paid in conformity with the foregoing provisions, the conveyance or transfer made to the purchaser or sub-purchaser, or any other person on his behalf or by his direction, shall not be chargeable with any duty, and the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, upon application, either shall, under the provisions of section fourteen of the [33 & 34 Vict. c. 97.] Stamp Act, 1870, denote the payment of the ad valorem duty upon the conveyance or transfer, or shall transfer the ad valorem duty thereto upon production of the contract or agreement, or contracts or agreements, duly stamped.

(4) Provided that where any such contract or agreement is stamped, with the fixed duty of ten shillings or of sixpence, as the case may require, according to the law in force prior to the passing of the Customs and Inland Revenue Act, 1889, the contract or agreement shall be regarded as duly stamped for the mere purpose of proceedings to enforce specific performance or recover damages for the breach thereof.

(5) Provided also that where any such contract or agreement is stamped with the said fixed duty according to the law in force as aforesaid, and a conveyance or transfer made in conformity with the contract or agreement is presented to the said Commissioners for stamping with the ad valorem duty chargeable thereon under the said law within the period of six months after the first execution of the contract or agreement, or within such longer period as the said Commissioners may think reasonable in the circumstances of the case, the said conveyance or transfer shall be stamped accordingly, and the same, and the said contract or agreement, shall be deemed to be duly stamped. Nothing in this proviso shall alter or affect the provisions of the said law as to the stamping of a conveyance or transfer after the execution thereof.

(6) Provided also, that the ad valorem duty paid upon any such contract or agreement for sale as aforesaid shall be returned by the said Commissioners in case the contract or agreement be afterwards rescinded or annulled, or for any other reason be not substantially performed or carried into effect, so as to operate as or be followed by a conveyance or transfer.

(7) Words and expressions in this section shall have the like meaning and interpretation as in the Stamp Act, 1870.

16 Extension of exemption of coupons

The exemption from Stamp Duty under the head " Bill of Exchange " in the schedule to the Stamp Act, 1870, of " Coupon or Warrant for Interest attached to and issued with any security," shall extend to a coupon or warrant for interest attached to and issued with any agreement or memorandum for the renewal or extension of time for payment of a security.

17 Duty of one penny upon a lease or tack in Scotland may be denoted by adhesive stamp

The duty of one penny upon a lease or tack, or agreement for a lease or tack, in Scotland, of any dwelling-house or tenement, or part of a dwelling-house or tenement, for the definite term of a year at a rent not exceeding ten pounds per annum, or upon the duplicate or counterpart of any such instrument, may be denoted by an adhesive stamp which is to be cancelled by the person by whom the instrument is first executed.

18 Amendment of 46 & 47 Vict. c.30 s.7, as to shares in colonial registers

Notwithstanding provision (b) in section seven of the Companies (Colonial Registers) Act, 1883, the share or other interest of a deceased member, registered in a Colonial register under that Act, who shall have died domiciled elsewhere than in the United Kingdom, shall, so far as relates to British duties, not be deemed to be part of his estate and effects situated in the United Kingdom, for or in respect of which probate or letters of administration is or are to be granted, or whereof an inventory is to be exhibited and recorded.

19 Amendment of s.11 of 47 & 48 Vict. c.62

The proviso to section eleven of the Revenue Act, 1884, is hereby repealed, and that section shall be read as if the following proviso were therein inserted in lieu of the repealed proviso:

Provided that where a policy of life assurance has been effected with any insurance company by a person who shall die domiciled elsewhere than in the United Kingdom, the production of a grant of representation from a court in the United Kingdom shall not be necessary to establish the right to receive the money payable in respect of such policy.

20 Policies of insurance against accident: composition by agreement for stamp duty thereon

Whereas a practice has arisen of inserting in newspapers and other publications notices or advertisements which purport to insure the payment of money upon the death of the holder or bearer of the newspaper or publication containing the notice or advertisement only from accident or violence or otherwise than from a natural cause, and doubts have arisen as to the liability of such notices or advertisements to the stamp duty of one penny imposed by the [33 & 34 Vict. c. 97.] Stamp Act, 1870, upon a policy of insurance for any payment agreed to be made upon the death of any person only from accident or violence or otherwise than from a natural cause, and it is expedient to remove such doubts and to make such provisions in relation to composition for the stamp duty as are in this section contained : Be it therefore enacted as follows:—

(a) The expression " policy of insurance against accident" as used in this section means a policy of insurance for any payment agreed to be made upon the death of any person only from accident or violence or otherwise than from a natural cause, or as compensation for personal injury, and the term " policy " as defined in section one hundred and seventeen of the Stamp Act, 1870, shall be construed, in relation to a policy of insurance against accident, as including any notice or advertisement in a newspaper or other publication which purports to insure the payment of money upon the death of or injury to the holder or bearer of the newspaper or publication containing the notice only from accident or violence or otherwise than from a natural cause :

(b) Where any person or body, corporate or unincorporate, issuing policies of insurance against accident, shall, in the opinion of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, so carry on the business of such insurance as to render it impracticable or inexpedient to require that the stamp duty of one penny as imposed by the Stamp Act, 1870, be charged and paid upon the policies, it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to enter into an agreement with that person or body for the delivery to them of quarterly accounts of all sums received in respect of premiums on policies of insurance against accident, and the agreement shall be in such form and contain such terms and conditions as the said Commissioners may think proper:

(c) After an agreement has been entered into between the said Commissioners and any person or body under the foregoing provision and during the period for which the agreement is in force, no policy of insurance against accident issued by that person or body shall be chargeable with any stamp duty, but in lieu of and by way of composition for such stamp duty there shall be charged on the aggregate amount of all sums received in respect of premiums on policies of insurance against accident a duty at the rate of five pounds per centum, which duty shall be a stamp duty and shall be under the care and management of the said Commissioners, who by themselves and their officers shall have the same powers and authorities for the collection, recovery, and management thereof as are now vested in them for the collection, recovery, and management of any stamp duties, and shall have all other powers and authorities requisite for such purposes :

(d) The quarterly accounts to be delivered by or on behalf of any person or body to the said Commissioners shall be delivered within twenty days after the fifth day of April, the fifth day of July, the tenth day of October, and the fifth day of January in every year, and every account shall be a full and true account of all unstamped policies of insurance against accident issued by that person or body during the quarter of a year ending on any of the said days next preceding the delivery thereof, and of all sums of money received for or in respect of such policies so issued during that quarter, and of all sums of money received and not already accounted for in respect of any other unstamped policies of insurance against accident issued at any time before the commencement of that quarter:

(e) The duty imposed by this section shall be paid on the delivery of the account, and unless then paid shall be a debt due to Her Majesty from the person or body by or on whose, behalf the account is delivered :

(f) In the case of wilful neglect to deliver such an account as is hereby required or to pay the duty in conformity with this section, the person or body shall be liable to pay to Her Majesty a sum equal to ten pounds per centum upon the amount of duty payable, and a like penalty for every month after the first month during which the neglect continues.