Board Of Excise
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OR:

His or Her Majesty's Excise refers to 'inland'
duties A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; , past participle of ; , whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may arise from a system of ethics or morality, e ...
levied on articles at the time of their manufacture.
Excise file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...
duty was first raised in England in 1643. Like
HM Customs HM Customs (His or Her Majesty's Customs) was the national Customs service of Kingdom of England, England (and then of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1707, the United Kingdom from 1801) until a merger with the HM Excise, Departme ...
(a far older branch of the
revenue services A revenue service, revenue agency or taxation authority is a government agency responsible for the intake of government revenue, including taxes and sometimes non-tax revenue. Depending on the jurisdiction, revenue services may be charged with ...
), the Excise was administered by a Board of Commissioners who were accountable to the
Lords Commissioners of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords (or Ladies) Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a Government agency, commission for the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer, Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the ...
. While 'HM Revenue of Excise' was a phrase used in early legislation to refer to this form of duty, the body tasked with its collection and general administration was usually known as the Excise Office. In 1849 the Board of Excise was merged with the Board of Stamps and Taxes to form a new department: the
Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ta ...
. Sixty years later the Excise department was demerged from the Inland Revenue and amalgamated with HM Customs to form
HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was the ...
(which was itself amalgamated with the Inland Revenue in 2005 to create
HM Revenue and Customs His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a department of the UK government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of stat ...
).


Organisation

Following the example of HM Customs, the Board of Excise set up a network of administrative areas called 'Collections' (each with its own Collector). Unlike HM Customs, the Excise operated inland as well as on the coast: initially it had 39 Collections in England (mostly corresponding with the
English Counties The counties of England are a type of subdivision of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are three definitions of county in England: the 48 ceremonial counties used for the purpos ...
) and 4 in Wales; later its remit was extended to cover Scotland and Ireland as well. The Collections were subdivided into Districts (each overseen by a Supervisor), which themselves had smaller subdivisions, known either as Rides (if covered by an Excise Officer on horseback) or Divisions (also called Footwalks), which were covered by an Excise Officer on foot.


Personnel

Each Excise Collector was required to tour his Collection eight times a year, visiting each Market Town in turn in order to hold 'sittings' and receive revenue payments. In the intervening time, locally based Excise Officers (known informally as ''excisemen'' or '' gaugers'') would make regular visits to the manufacturers and retailers in order to assess the duty payable on relevant items and to issue 'vouchers' summarizing the duty owed. Meanwhile, the Supervisors would make regular spot-checks on the excisemen in their Districts and report any anomalies or errors in their accounts. This pattern of work remained the norm through the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 1820s, an excise officer (Joseph Pacy) wrote a detailed description of his daily routine, spent visiting a series of different manufacturers and retailers: chandlers, brewers, innkeepers, tanners, maltsters, distillers and tea and tobacco merchants (with substantial amounts of administrative work to be done in the intervening moments). The excise officer carried various specialist items of equipment for testing and measuring different dutiable products; for example the Sikes
hydrometer A hydrometer or lactometer is an instrument used for measuring density or relative density of liquids based on the concept of buoyancy. They are typically Calibration, calibrated and Graduation (instrument), graduated with one or more scales suc ...
(invented by an officer of Excise,
Benjamin Sikes Bartholomew Sikes (died 1803) was an officer in the employ of HM Excise who in the late 18th century perfected a device by which the alcoholic content of a liquid can be measured. In 1802 he presented his invention to a board of inquiry toget ...
, in the 18th century and used by Excise officers from 1816 until 1980 for measuring the
alcohol proof Alcohol proof (usually termed simply "proof" in relation to a beverage) is a measure of the content of ethanol (alcohol) in an alcoholic beverage. The term was originally used in England and from 1816 was equal to about 1.75 times the percentage ...
of spirits).


Excise licences

In order to be able to regulate and inspect the manufacture of dutiable products, the Excise Office issued licences to manufacturers (and it was then illegal for anyone to manufacture such items without a licence). Traders in some items were similarly licensed. In the late 18th century a duty was imposed on the licences themselves: Excise Licence duty (the rate of which often varied depending on the scale of production) had to be paid in addition to any duty payable on the goods that were being manufactured or traded under licence.


Headquarters

Initially, in 1643, the Excise Office had a headquarters in Broad Street in the City of London. Thereafter, as it expanded, it leased successively larger properties in and around the City. Having returned to Broad Street in the 1670s, the Excise moved out again in the early 1700s, only to move back (into a new purpose-built headquarters there) in 1769. This new Excise Office in Broad Street was designed by
George Dance the Elder George Dance the Elder (1695 – 8 February 1768) was a British architect. He was the City of London Surveyor (surveying), surveyor and architect from 1735 until his death. Life Originally a mason, George Dance was appointed Clerk of the ci ...
and built on the site of
Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England that does not accept students or award degrees. It was founded in 1597 under the Will (law), will of Sir Thomas Gresham, ...
: it consisted of two ranges, one of stone, the other of brick, with a spacious courtyard laid out between them. The Excise remained there until 1852, when its staff moved to join the other departments of the newly-formed Inland Revenue in
Somerset House Somerset House is a large neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building complex situated on the south side of the Strand, London, Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadran ...
.


History


17th century

On 22 July 1643, the
Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...
passed the 'Excise Ordinance' (an ''Ordinance for the speedy raising and levying of moneys by way of charge or impost upon several commodities'') to raise money for the maintenance of Parliamentary forces. The ordinance established a board of eight Commissioners to oversee the collection of this revenue. Duty was initially levied on beer, cider, spirits and soap, but the list of dutiable items grew year by year and before long excise duty was being levied on such day-to-day necessities as meat, fish, clothes and leather, prompting public resentment. (In 1647 the Excise office in Smithfield was burned to the ground during a riot against the Excise duty on meat.) After the Restoration the Excise (which had begun as a temporary measure) was retained; duty was levied on beer and
ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...
, cider and
perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...
,
aqua vitae ''Aqua vitae'' (Latin for "water of life") or aqua vita is an archaic name for a strong aqueous solution of ethanol. These terms could also be applied to weak ethanol without rectification. Usage was widespread during the Middle Ages and the ...
and the
Coffee House A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, Caffè americano, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually ...
beverages of tea, coffee, chocolate and sherbet. The rights to the revenue of excise were granted to the King (to cover the general expenses of government), in lieu of certain feudal dues and royal hereditary rights which had lately been abolished (including tenure in capite,
knight-service Knight-service was a form of feudal land tenure under which a knight held a fief or estate of land termed a knight's fee (''fee'' being synonymous with ''fief'') from an overlord conditional on him as a tenant performing military service for his ...
,
purveyance Purveyance, a greatly expanded form of the ancient customary right of prise, was a mediaeval prerogative right of the English Crown to purchase provisions and other necessaries, at an appraised price, and to requisition horses and vehicles for ...
and the
Court of Wards and Liveries The Court of Wards and Liveries was a court established during the reign of Henry VIII in England. Its purpose was to administer a system of feudalism, feudal dues; but as well as the revenue collection, the court was also responsible for wa ...
). For this purpose the revenue received was divided in two: 50% (termed the 'Hereditary Excise') was granted to the monarch and his heirs in perpetuity, the other 50% (termed the 'Temporary Excise') was granted to Charles II for life. (A similar arrangement remained in place in subsequent reigns until the establishment of the
Civil List A civil list is a list of individuals to whom money is paid by the government, typically for service to the state or as honorary pensions. It is a term especially associated with the United Kingdom, and its former colonies and dominions. It was ori ...
in 1760, since when monarchs have customarily ceded the Hereditary Excise and other hereditary revenues to Parliament at the time of their accession). From 1662 Excise revenue was farmed on and off (i.e. leased to speculators in return for an annual rent) until a Board Commissioners of Excise was established on a permanent footing in 1683. In addition to excise revenue, the Board and its officers were required to collect hearth money until the latter was abolished in 1689. Following the
Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...
of 1688, with the English Army expanding and fighting multiple campaigns, levels of duty were increased and new duties were raised: beer duty was doubled and over the next twenty-five years such diverse commodities as
salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
,
glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...
,
malt Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as "malting". Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar, ...
, candles, hops, leather,
windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
, wire, soap,
paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
and starch all became subject to excise duty. The distribution of Excise officers around the country meant that they were sometimes called upon to act for other branches of government; for example in 1693 they were called upon to provide annual statistics on inns and taverns to the
Secretary at War The secretary at war was a political position in the English and later British government, with some responsibility over the administration and organization of the Army, but not over military policy. The Secretary at War ran the War Office. Aft ...
(for the billeting of soldiers and the stabling of horses).


18th century

After the
Act of Union 1707 The Acts of Union refer to two acts of Parliament, one by the Parliament of Scotland in March 1707, followed shortly thereafter by an equivalent act of the Parliament of England. They put into effect the international Treaty of Union agree ...
a separate Excise Board was established for Scotland. When malt duty was imposed there in 1725 it caused widespread outcry and opposition. The Excise was now seen as an efficient and effective means of raising revenue and
Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...
(as
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...
and ''de facto''
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
) sought to make the most of it. Seven years later he began to explore the possibility of using the Excise to counter problems of fraud and smuggling related to imported goods – particularly wine and tobacco – within the remit of HM Customs. When he presented his proposals to Parliament in 1733 it prompted a full-blown ' Excise Crisis': there was public frenzy, fuelled by fears that the Bill marked the first stage of a General Excise being imposed on all manner of domestic goods and other articles. When the Bill was withdrawn there were widespread celebrations. In the wake of the crisis no new excise duties were introduced for the next fifty years (except for a relatively short-lived duty on household plate). When, however,
William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...
arrived as Prime Minister, he brought with him a determination to raise revenue more effectively by way of the Excise service. A duty on bricks was introduced in 1784, as was the duty on excise licences. Then, in 1786, Pitt revisited the proposals embodied in Walpole's withdrawn Excise Bill of 1733: the intention had been to reduce customs duty on imported wine and tobacco to a nominal amount and instead impose an Excise duty; on arrival, the goods would be placed directly in a
bonded warehouse A bonded warehouse, or bond, is a building or other secured area in which imported but dutiable goods may be stored, manipulated, or undergo manufacturing operations without payment of duty. They may then be again exported without payment of duty. ...
where they would remain under Excise control. Despite opposition from affected merchants and retailers, the Bill was passed. The gamble paid off and within a few years the duty on tobacco had established itself as Britain's most productive form of revenue (and it remained so until 1968). Thereafter, the developing war with France had prompted the introduction of new forms of duty and further increases. In due course, the warehousing system proved advantageous to the traders since duty was only payable on the removal of goods from the warehouse. This enabled them to delay paying duty until the goods were sold (whereas previously Customs duty had to be paid the moment the goods arrived on dry land). In 1803 an Act was passed allowing the warehousing of all types of goods liable to Excise duty, and new warehouses were built in ports all round the country. Smuggling remained a problem with which both Excise and Customs officers were now having to engage. As part of their response, both services were provided with revenue cutters (sea-going vessels to help them patrol the nation's coastal waters). The Excise Board had a fleet of seven
cutters Cutter may refer to: Tools * Bolt cutter * Box cutter * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Cutter (hydraulic rescue tool) * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Pizza cutter * Side cutter People * Cutter (surname) * ...
in operation by 1784; HM Customs had twenty vessels of its own and two dozen more under contract.


19th century

In 1823 the thitherto separate Boards of Commissioners for England, Scotland and Wales were consolidated into a single UK-wide Board of Excise. During and after the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
, the number and level of excise duties had continued to grow. From the 1820s, however, this trend began to be reversed; by 1840 the number of duties levied had reduced from twenty-seven to ten. Salt duty (levied since 1698) was repealed first, in 1825, followed by the long-standing excise duties on beer and cider (levied since 1643). Also in 1825 the somewhat anomalous situation whereby import duties (on coffee, cocoa, tobacco, wine and spirits) were collected by the Excise Office came to an end, with responsibility for these being handed back to HM Customs. (The Excise fleet of revenue cruisers were transferred over at the same time.) In 1830, Sir Henry Parnell published an influential treatise ''On Financial Reform'', which argued for the repeal of duties on the raw materials for building and manufacturing (including those on bricks, tiles, leather and hemp) in order to encourage manufacturing, the repeal of duties on items otherwise involved in manufacturing processes (including those on coal, glass, candles and soap) and the reduction of excise duty on wine and tobacco (in order to discourage smuggling); in order to counterbalance these proposed reductions Parnell argued for the (re-)introduction of taxes on
property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...
and on
income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. F ...
(i.e. direct, rather than indirect, taxes). The following year the duties on leather and on printed cotton were repealed, followed by that on candles. (The abolition of the latter was widely welcomed: chandlers' equipment was required to be kept secure behind a crown lock outside working hours, the key to which was held by the local excise officer, who was obliged during working hours to monitor the chandlers' work every four hours.) Where excise duties remained in place (e.g. on spirits, malt, soap and paper) the requirement for officers to monitor the manufacturing process was reduced.


Amalgamations

During the 1840s the Excise Office contracted as further duties were repealed (e.g. that on glass in 1845). Before long, plans were being drawn up to merge the much-reduced department with the Board of Stamps and Taxes (itself formed from a recent amalgamation). The merger was achieved after Parliament passed the Inland Revenue Board Act in January, 1849. The reduction in excise duties continued post-amalgamation, with duties being repealed on bricks (1850), soap (1853) and paper (1861). In 1880 malt duty (which had been in place since 1697) followed suit; but it was replaced by a new excise duty on beer (which varied depending on the
specific gravity Relative density, also called specific gravity, is a dimensionless quantity defined as the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for solids and liquids is nea ...
of the product). In addition, the excise staff inherited responsibilities from other departments of the Revenue, such as railway passenger duty and 'establishment licences' (formerly 'assessed taxes') by which duty was payable on such luxuries as carriages, menservants and the display of armorial bearings. In the early 20th century a decision was taken to unite the two Boards responsible for indirect taxation; the
Board of Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was the ...
was formed in 1909, leaving the Inland Revenue to administer direct taxes (principally income tax, which had been re-introduced in 1842).


List of excise duties (1643-1909)

The following duties were levied by the Excise Office and by the Excise Department of the Inland Revenue (this is not an exhaustive list): *Beer (1643-1830, 1880-) *Cider (1643-1830, 1916-23, 1976-) *Salt (1643-1660, 1694-1825); *Soap (1643-60, 1712-1853) *Vinegar (1643-1844) *Spirits (1660-) *Tea (1660-1834) *Glass (1695-1845) *Made-wine (1696-1834) *Malt (1697-1880) *Candles (1710-1832) *Hops (1711-1862) *Leather (1711-1831) *Paper (1712-1861) *Wire (1712-1826) *Starch (1713-1834) *Bricks (1750-1850) *Tiles (1750-1839) * Plate (1756-77) *Cotton prints (1774-1831) *Auctions (1777-1845) *Wine (1786-1825) *Licences (1784-) ''see below'' *Railway passengers (1847-1929); had previously been subject to stamp duty (since 1832) *Sugar (1837-74, 1915-62) *Racehorses (1856-1874); previously an assessed tax (since 1784) *
Chicory Common chicory (''Cichorium intybus'') is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant of the family Asteraceae, usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink. Native to Europe, it has been introduced to the Americas and Australia. M ...
(1860-1926) *
Saccharin Saccharin, also called saccharine, benzosulfimide, or E954, or used in saccharin sodium or saccharin calcium forms, is a non-nutritive artificial sweetener. Saccharin is a sultam that is about 500 times sweeter than sucrose, but has a bitter or ...
(1901-62)


List of excise licence duties

From 1784 an excise duty was payable on licences taken out by manufacturers and traders of dutiable goods, including brewers, maltsters, distillers, glassmakers, paper manufacturers, soap-makers,
publicans The (Latin ; Greek τελώνης ''telōnēs'') were public contractors in the Roman Republic and Empire. In their official capacity, they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw pub ...
, vintners (and other dealers or retailers of alcoholic beverages), tobacco and snuff dealers and retailers, and traders in coffee, tea, cocoa-nuts, chocolate and pepper. Licence duty often remained payable even if duty on the product itself had been repealed. In addition, licence duty was payable by or for (among others): *
Appraiser An appraiser (from Latin ''appretiare'', "to value") is a person that develops an opinion of the market value or other value of a product, most notably real estate. The current definition of "appraiser" according to the Uniform Standards of Profes ...
s (1865-1949); previously subject to stamp duty (since 1806) *
Armorial bearings A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achie ...
(1869-1945); previously an assessed tax (since 1798) *Auctioneers (1777-1949) *Carriages (1869-); previously an assessed tax (since 1747) *
Dogs The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers ...
(1867-1988); previously an assessed tax (since 1796) *
Guns A gun is a device that propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). Solid projectiles may be ...
(1870-) *
Game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...
(1860-2007); previously an assessed tax (since 1784) *
Hackney carriages A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common sight on t ...
(1847-) * Hawkers (1864-1966) *House agents (1865-1949); previously subject to stamp duty (since 1861) *Male servants (1869-1938); previously an assessed tax (since 1777) *Sellers of
Patent Medicine A patent medicine (sometimes called a proprietary medicine) is a non-prescription medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name, and claimed to be effective against minor disorders a ...
(1865-1941); previously subject to stamp duty *Pawnbrokers (1864–1974); previously subject to stamp duty (since 1785) *Plate-dealers (1865-1949); previously subject to stamp duty (since 1758) *Playing card makers & sellers (1864-1960); playing cards had previously been subject to stamp duty (since 1711) * Post horses (1837-1869); previously subject to stamp duty (since 1779) *Saddle and carriage horses (1869-1875); previously an assessed tax (since 1784) *
Motor vehicles A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such as airplanes ...
(1888-)


Notes

{{reflist, group=lower-alpha


References

Taxation in the United Kingdom