An Impressed Duty Stamp is a form of revenue stamp created by impressing (embossing) a stamp on to a document using a metal die to show that the required duty (tax) had been paid. The stamps have been used to collect a wide variety of taxes and duties, including stamp duty and duties on alcohol, financial transactions, receipts, cheques and court fees. Usage has been worldwide but particularly heavy in the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth.
Impressed duty stamps are to be distinguished from adhesive revenue stamps which are applied to documents in the same way that a postage stamp is applied to a letter.
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In the United Kingdom, the first impressed duty stamps were used following the introduction of Stamp duty in the 1694 Stamp Act.
The Act was An act for granting to Their Majesties several duties on Vellum, Parchment and Paper for 10 years, towards carrying on the war against France (5 & 6 Will. & Mar. c. 21).[1] The duty ranged from 1 penny to several shillings on a number of different legal documents including insurance policies and documents used as evidence in courts. It raised around £50,000 a year and although it was initially a temporary measure, it proved so successful that its use was continued.
Successive Acts have created new duties up to the present day and impressed duty stamps have been used until recently to collect the taxes with electronic methods now taking over.
The tax was enforced by making the documents unenforceable in court if they had not been properly stamped. The tax was either a fixed amount per document or ad valorem where the tax varied according to the value of the transaction being taxed.[2]
The first stamps were issued by the newly created Board of Commissioners of Stamps. Distributors of the stamps were appointed throughout the country. Later, the poet William Wordsworth was the distributor in Westmorland.[2] The stamps were embossed on to the document directly, at first without any inking (known as albino), and later using colour. In the case of parchment the stamp was first applied to paper which was attached to the document using glue and a tin metal strip.[2]
The use of the stamps in the United Kingdom was so successful that the same model was soon adopted in the rest of British Empire. The stamps have also been used in many other countries.
In many countries, revenue meters have replaced impressed stamps as they are more efficient and the stamp is quicker to apply. Operating like a meter franking machine, they are manufactured by many of the same companies, for instance Pitney Bowes and Neopost.[3]
A direct impressed stamp is a different type of revenue stamp whereby the stamp is incorporated into the design of the document and printed at the same time as the rest of the document is printed. Direct impressed stamps were often included in the design of cheques to prevent the need to separately stamp each cheque.
Overembossing dies may be confused with impressed duty stamps as they appear similar. In fact, they are applied to adhesive revenue stamps to cancel the stamp and tie the stamp to the document on which it is placed. Often in red, they will usually include the date on the top and bottom of the die and are produced using the same method as impressed duty stamps. They normally show no value as they are not stamps but in a few cases overembossing dies have been adapted to include a value and to serve as stamps, for instance in Penang, Singapore and Malacca.[3]