Stamp Act 1815
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1815 c. 184 |
(55 Geo. 3) C A P. CLXXXIV.
[11th July 1815]
'Most Gracious Sovereign,
'WHEREAS it is expedient to grant certain additional Stamp Duties towards raising the necessary Supplies to defray Your Majesty's Public Expences, and making such permanent Addition to the Public Revenue as shall be equal to the increased annual Charge, occasioned by the Funding of Exchequer Bills, and by any Loan made pursuant to any Act or Acts passed or to be passed for that Purpose, in this Session of Parliament; and it is also expedient to consolidate the additional with the existing Duties;' We Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Commons ofGreat Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled, have resolved to grant unto Your Majesty the several Duties hereinafter mentioned; and do most humbly beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by The King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliamentassembled, and by the Authority of the same, That all the Duties granted by the Act passed in the Forty eighth Year of His Majesty's Reign, intituledAn Act for repealing the Stamp Duties on Deeds, Law Proceedings, and other written or printed Instruments, and the Duties on Legacies and Successions to Personal Estate upon Intestacies, now payable in Great Britain, and for granting new Duties in lieu thereof ;and also the Duties on Licences for using and exercising the Trade or Business of a Pawnbroker, granted by the Actpassed in the Forty fourth Year of His Majesty's Reign, intituledAn Act to repeal the several Duties under the Commissioners for managing the Duties upon stamped Vellum, Parchment and Paper, in Great Britain, and to grant new additional Duties in lieu thereof ; and also the Duties granted by an Act passed in the FiftiethYear of His Majesty's Reign, on Policies of Insurance of Property in theWest Indies or elsewhere beyond the Seas, from Loss by Fire; shall cease and determine from and after the Thirty first Day of August One thousand eight hundred and fifteen; and that the yearly Per Centage Duty on Insurances from Lossby Fire granted by the said Act, passed in the Forty fourth Year of His Majesty's Reign, shall cease and determine from and after the Twenty eighth Day ofSeptember One thousand eight hundred and fifteen; save and except such of the said respective Duties, or so much and such Part or Parts thereof respectively, as shall have become due or payable before or upon those Days, and remain in arrear or unpaid afterwards; and also save and except so much and such Part or Parts as shall remain to be paid of any Duties in respect of Legacies given by way of Annuity, or so that the Value thereof cannot be ascertained at once where Part of such Duties shall have been paid, or have become payable before or upon the said Thirty first Day ofAugust ; all which Duties or Parts of Duties so in arrear or remaining to be paid as aforesaid, shall be recoverable by the same ways and means, and with such and the same Penalties, and in such and the same manner, in all respects, as if this Act had not been made.
II Duties specified in Schedule annexed levied.
II. And be it further enacted, That there shall be raised, levied and paid unto and for the Use of His Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, in and throughout the Whole ofGreat Britain , for and in respect of the several Instruments, Matters and Things, mentioned and described in the Schedule hereunto annexed (except those standing under the Head of Exemptions) or for or in respect of the Vellum, Parchment or Paper, upon which such Instruments, Matters and Things or any of them shall be written or printed, the several Duties or Sums of Money set down in Figures against the same respectively, or otherwise specified and set forth in the same Schedule; and that the yearlyPer Centage Duty on Insurances from Loss by Fire therein mentioned, shall commence and take place from and after the Twenty eighth Day of September One thousand eight hundred and fifteen; and that all the other Duties therein mentioned, shall commence and take place from and after the Thirtyfirst Day ofAugust One thousand eight hundred and fifteen; and that the said Schedule, and all the Provisions, Regulations and Directions therein contained, with respect to the said Duties, and the Instruments, Matters and Things charged therewith, shall be deemed and taken to be Part of this Act, and shall be read and construed as if the same had been inserted herein at this Place, and shall be applied, observed and put in Execution accordingly.
III Duties under Management of Commissioners of Stamps,who are to provide Stamps, &c.
III. And be it further enacted, That the Duties hereby granted, shall be under the Care and Management of the Commissioners for the time being appointed and authorized by His Majesty, his Heirs or Successors, to manage the Duties on Stamped Vellum, Parchment and Paper inGreat Britain ; which said Commissioners (who shall be called ‘The Commissioners of Stamps in Great Britain’) and the major Part of them, are hereby empowered and required to provide proper and sufficient Stamps or Dies for expressing and denoting the several Duties hereby granted, or the Amount thereof in the case of Per Centage Duties (except those on Legacies and Successions to Personal Estate, and the yearly Duties on Fire Insurances) upon the Vellum, Parchment or Paper chargeable therewith, and for expressing and denoting the Rate per Cent. of the Legacy Duties upon the Receipts and Discharges to be given for Legacies and Shares of Personal Estate, and for otherwise denoting or testifying the Payment of any Duty or Duties hereby granted, where necessary; and to alter and renew such Stamps or Dies from time to time as Occasion shall require; and also to employ such Officers and Persons under them, and to do all such other Acts and Things as shall be deemed necessary or expedient for effectually raising and collecting the Duties hereby granted, and for putting this Act into Execution, in the like and in as full and ample manner as they or any former Commissioners are or have been authorized to do for the raising and collecting of any former Stamp Duties, or for putting into Execution any Act or Acts of Parliament relating thereto.
IV Old Stamps used to denote Duties; and Two or more Stampsto denote one Duty, till single Stamp provided.
IV. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to use any of the Stamps or Dies heretofore provided to denote any former Stamp Duties, for the Purpose of expressing and denoting any of the Duties hereby granted of the same Amount, and also to use Two or more Stamps or Dies for denoting the Amount of any One Duty hereby granted, as Occasion may require, until a single Stamp or Die shall be provided for that Purpose; and that all Instruments which shall be stamped with Two or more Stamps, for denoting the Amount of any single Duty charged or chargeable thereon, shall be as valid as if the same had been stamped with a single Stampfor denoting such Duty; but no Stamp appropriated to denote the Duty charged on any particular Instrument, and bearing the Name of such Instrument on the Face thereof, shall be used for denoting any other Duty of the same Amount, or if so used, the same shall be of no Avail.
V Paper, &c. stamped with former Duties used for Instrumentscharged with Duties of same Amount.
V. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to issue for the supply of the Country, any Vellum, Parchment or Paper, which shall have been stamped for denoting any Duties hereby repealed, to be used for any of the Instruments hereby charged with Duties of the same Amount, and also, if deemed expedient, to cause any such Vellum, Parchment or Paper, to be stamped with any additional Stamp or Stamps, in order to make up the Amount of the increased Duty hereby charged on any of the Instruments for which such Vellum, Parchment or Paper, shall have been originally intended, and thereupon to issue the same to be used for such Instruments, or for any other Instruments charged with the same Amount of Duty; and it shall also be lawful for any Persons having in their Possessions any Vellum, Parchment or Paper, stamped with any of the Duties repealed by this Act, or by the aforesaid Act of the Forty fourth or Forty eighth Year of His Majesty's Reign, and not already made use of, to use the same for any of the Instruments hereby charged with Dutiesof the same Amount: Provided always, that no Vellum, Parchment or Paper, bearing a Stamp appropriated by Name to any particular Instrument, shall be used for any other Purpose, or if so used, the same shall be of no Avail.
VI Stamped Paper, &c. rendered useless by Act, exchangedor additional Stamps.
VI. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for all Persons having in their Possession any Stamped Vellum, Parchment or Paper, not made use of, and which by the Operation of this Act shall have been rendered unfit for the Instruments for which the same was...
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