countries;

have induced the adoption of this mode of taxation, in many one form or another, in many countries, including France, Russia, Austria, Prussia, Italy, Spain, Bavaria, Belgium, Holland, Hanover, Baden, Hesse, Nassau, some of the cantons of Switzerland, India, and several of our colonies.

different

A detailed history of the stamp duties imposed in but in very foreign countries is beyond the scope of the present forms. work; they differ extremely both in the amount of the duties imposed and in the instruments charged with duty, so much so, that to state (as it would be easy to do) the amounts returned as the produce of the stamp duties in those countries in which they are in force, would be practically useless for purposes of comparison, if not, indeed, calculated to be misleading.

Selecting France, however, as a neighbouring country with which we have intimate commercial relations, involving, not unfrequently, the use of instruments liable to stamp duties, and also because the lucidity of the French law and the admirable treatises on taxation in that language afford peculiar facilities for the investigation of their system of taxation, it is intended briefly to notice the history and plan of the stamp duties in that country.

Stamp Duties in France.

M. Clamageran, in his 'Histoire de l'Impôt en France,' Their states that stamp duties were first introduced in that origin. country about the year 1651, during the troubles of the Fronde. They were not very productive of revenue, and soon, practically, fell into abeyance. Abcut

the year 1671-1673 they were revived under Colbert, but the tax was not popular, and conduced, with other imposts, to revolt and pillage of the stamp offices in Bretagne. This date, M. de Parieu, in his Traité des Impôts,' treats as the commencement of the tax, which, he says, had its immediate origin in the LouisXIV. formules or forms introduced by Louis XIV. by edict in the year 1673, for which, in the next year, stamps or marks, varying for the different provinces of the kingdom, were substituted.

The for

mules of

Papier

timbré introduced by the Con

These, again, were abolished in the year 1791 by the Constitutional Assembly, who substituted the stitutional stamped paper now in use, termed papier timbré. Assembly. The law of the 13th Brumaire An VII. (November 3,

1798), repealed all previous laws on the subject, and established the system and machinery of the tax. This law is still in force, and contains the principal provisions applicable to stamp duties. Several important enactments have, however, subsequently been passed, notably in the years 1816, 1850, 1859, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1871, and 1872. The general result of the legislation on the subject is as follows:

1 It should be borne in mind that the Bretons were unintelligent peasants, easily persuaded to oppose any new measures. Probably their knowledge of the rights and wrongs of the question was commensurate with their acquaintance with the French language, which, according to Madame de Sévigné, was extremely limited. Ces pauvres bas Bretons' she writes, meet the soldiers sent to annihilate them with exclamations of "Mea culpa," le seul mot de français qu'ils sachent.' Of the present feeling regarding the tax, M. de Parieu states: "On ne se plaint pas beaucoup en France de cet impôt.'

2 This term is of unknown origin, the derivations usually given being, on the face of them, absurd. Its use led to the amusing mistake of a well-known historian, who confounded the stamp tax with the timber duties.

tion of the

system.

Timbre de

Timbre

tionnel.

Under the French system the duties are of three sorts: Explana(1) Duties having relation to the size of the paper, French termed timbre de dimension; (2) Duties having relation to the value of the transaction-ad valorem dimension. duties termed timbre proportionnel; and (3) The proporsmall fixed duties imposed on receipts and cheques. The stamped paper in ordinary use is made by the and cheque Government at Paris only. The taxpayer may, however, have paper of his own stamped in any of the de- Le timbre partments of the Republic, and this provision for ex- naire. ceptional cases is termed le timbre extraordinaire.

Receipt

duties.

extraordi

timbre.

There is also an official visa pour timbre, an official Visa pour signature on the instrument, acknowledging the payment of the tax and penalty (if any), applicable to instruments not duly stamped, instruments coming from * abroad and subject to duty, and instruments of a private character which, originally not liable to duty, have become chargeable on account of the use made of them. An adhesive stamp may now be used in most of these cases instead of the visa.

papier de

The size of Government stamped paper is fixed by Size of the law. There are five different sizes of the papier de dimension. dimension, viz. (1) Feuille de grand registre; (2) Grand papier; (3) Moyen papier (half the size of the grand papier); (4) Petit papier (half the size of the moyen papier); and (5) Petit papier, demi-feuille (half the size of a sheet of the petit papier): and any paper presented for stamping of a different size from the Government paper must be stamped as for paper of the next largest size.

The following is a statement of the duties in rela- Duties

imposed thereon.

tion to the size of paper imposed by the law of 1798, and the amounts to which they have been raised by subsequent enactments, taking the value of the franc at 10d. of our money:

Description of in

liable to

These duties are very comprehensive in their scope.

struments They embrace all law proceedings-that is to say, all the duties, the acts (in the sense of judicial or official writings) of any notary, officer registrar or clerk of court, judge. judicial tribunal, or police or other administrative authority-and all copies and extracts therefrom; all petitions and memorials, even in the form of letters, presented to the Government, or to any minister, commissioner, or public board office or establishment copies and extracts from any public book or register; policies of insurance (since the law of June 5, 1850): and, generally, all deeds and instruments which can be produced as evidence in a court of law. In short. the timbre de dimension touches, as M. de Parieu puts it, "d'une manière générale tous les papiers destinés aux actes judiciaires et aux écritures qui peuvent faire foi en justice "1 with the exception of the instru ments specified in the 16th Article of the law of 1798, which it is not necessary here to enumerate, and ex

1 Traité des Impôts, Liv. VI. cap. 1, tome iii. p. 81.

tend to deeds and instruments made abroad, which must be stamped before they are made use of in France.

valorem

ments

them.

Next, with regard to what may be termed the The ad ordinary ad valorem duties. These duties attach to duties. all bills of exchange, drafts, &c., orders for money, Instrupromissory notes, and obligations to pay money, in liable to short, to all 'effets negociables ou de commerce 'and also, under the law of the 6th prairial An. VII, to non-negotiable obligations and instruments, and extend to foreign instruments, including, since the law of the 23rd of August, 1871, instruments drawn abroad and payable abroad, which were not previously within the charge, all which must be stamped if negotiated, endorsed, accepted, or paid in France.

amount.

These duties, imposed by the law of the 14th ther- Their midor, An. IV., at the rate of 1 franc per 1,000 francs, were reduced in 1798 to 50 centimes per 1,000 francs -1s. d. per 100l. They were raised in the year 1816 by two-fifths; and in the year 1824 the duty was reduced to half for documents of 500 francs and under.

According to M. D'Audiffret, a practice of evading the stamp duties in commercial transactions was the cause of considerable loss to the State in relation to the ad valorem duties on bills of exchange, orders for money, &c., and the law of the 24th of May, 1834, endeavoured to put an end to this abuse, by means of a reduction of taxation and the imposition of higher penalties.'1 The enactment here mentioned reduced the duties for non-negotiable instruments and obliga1 Système Financier de la France, vol. ii. p. 73.

K