Revenue stamps of Malta

The 5/- stamp from the first issue of 1899.

The island of Malta issued adhesive revenue stamps from 9 August 1899 to 24 March 1988, and continues to use excise stamps to this day. There were various types of fiscal stamps for different taxes.[1]

Revenue

The 1908 5/- stamp, overprinted on a special printing of the 10/- stamp in red. The stamp was originally issued as a 10/- postage stamp in black in 1899.[2]
The 1954 £1 stamp.

These stamps were valid for most fiscal purposes, most notably for stamp duty. They were issued between 9 August 1899 and 1954.[3]

Malta's first revenue stamps were issued on 9 August 1899.[4] Five values from the 1885-1886 Queen Victoria definitive issue were overprinted 'Revenue' locally at the Government Printing Office in Valletta. A number of overprint varieties are known on this issue.[5] From later that year to 1912, all Malta revenues were contemporary postage stamps overprinted either in Malta or in London.

Between 1925 and 1936, Malta's first stamps specifically designed for fiscal use (not overprints) were issued. They had the Mackennal portrait of King George V, Maltese crosses on either corner and an unappropriated tablet at the bottom. This set included Malta's highest value stamp ever - the £5 purple issued in 1929. Since postage stamps became valid for fiscal use in 1928, only three revenues were issued later, and all had the face value of £1. The first two had the portrait of King George VI and differed in perforation, while the last had the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and was issued in 1954.[4] There were no further revenue issues after this, since the postage stamps with face values up to £1 appeared in the definitive sets of 1957 and 1965 (unlike earlier sets which were up to 10/-), and these were the stamps used for fiscal purposes.

Some of the earlier revenue stamps also exist postally used, although this was never authorised.

Keytypes

In 1925 and 1926 Malta issued various keytypes with the King George V unappropriated design, but with the name of the tax printed on the tablet at the bottom. There were the following types:

All of these were withdrawn following the reversion to dual purpose postage and revenue stamps in 1928.[4] However the £1 and £5 values remained valid and some of the £5 stamps were still in use as late as 1955.

Other types

Workmen's Compensation and National Insurance

The 1929-1941 Workmen's Compensation stamps.

These stamps were used as receipts that the weekly Workmen's Compensation Ordinance (WCO) fee was paid. The WCO was an insurance that covered injuries and other accidents at work. From 1929 to 1941, stamps denominated 1d were issued in various colours. Due to a change of procedure, 2d stamps were needed so between 1943 and 1946, there were provisional surcharges on old stocks of postage stamps and earlier WCO stamps. These were followed by a new issue in 1944 to 1952 in the same design as the previous stamps, but with the new 2d value and in various colours.

In 1948, an Act which amalgamated all employment and sickness payments into one scheme came into effect in Britain. In Malta this act came into effect in 1956 and the WCO stamps were replaced by National Insurance (NI) ones. The first stamps were WCO ones overprinted with the letters N.I. and a new value. Between 1956 and 1966, a new set was issued, similar to the WCO types but with new inscriptions, values and colours. After Malta achieved independence, a new type appeared, similar to the 1956 design but without the crown. These stamps were issued between 1966 and 1971. Various provisional surcharges also exist on both sets. When the Maltese pound was adopted in 1972, new values were possibly issued but have never been recorded. However two decimal overprints are known to exist.[4][6]

Excise

Malta has had various excise stamps for use on cigarettes since the 1930s. Until around 1972, all were long designs with the inscriptions in both English and Maltese. From around 1973 to around 1995 various types were used, all inscribed DAZJU EXCISE DUTY and bearing the Maltese coats of arms. From about 1995 to 2006, a new type still showing the coat of arms but inscribed SISA EXCISE was used. Since then, new taxpaid designs with holograms have been used. From the British period to the 1990s there were also some types specifically issued for imported cigarettes.[7]

Taxpaid excise stamps are also issued for the tax on spirits and wine.

Passport

The 1933-1962 Passport stamps.

Malta's first passport stamps were issued in 1933 in deep green with the value in black. Additional values and reprints to this issue continued until 1967. In 1969, a new design was printed in shades of red (from purple to orange) with the value in black. Only four values from this issue are known to exist although it is likely that more values were issued. Passport stamps were demonetized in 1972 when Malta adopted the Maltese lira.[4]

Airport Charge

Airport Charge stamps were used to pay the fee on travelling abroad to some countries. Only two were issued in 1975 and 1988, with an identical design featuring an aeroplane tail and a Maltese cross but with different denominations.[4]

Other revenues

Malta also had impressed duty stamps (1922-1989), passenger service charge labels (1960s-1975) and excise imprints on cinema, theatre or football tickets (1953-1985). There were also receipt stamps of various local organizations, most notably the Malta Memorial District Nursing Association, who issued its own stamps in 1948.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Buttigieg, Joseph. The J.B. Catalogue of Malta Stamps and Postal History, 2012, pp. 171-176.
  2. ↑ Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth and British Empire Stamps 1840-1970. 112th edition. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2010, pp. 399-400. ISBN 0852597312
  3. ↑ Barefoot, John. British Commonwealth Revenues. 9th edition. York: J. Barefoot, 2012, pp. 278-281. ISBN 0906845726
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Malta. Revenue Reverend, 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014. Archived here.
  5. ↑ Malta. I.B RedGuy, 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013. Archived here.
  6. ↑ Grasham, Donald and Wood, Hadrian. Malta Study Circle Study Paper 53: Malta Revenue Stamps of the Workmen's Compensation Ordinance and the National Insurance Scheme (1929-1974), 2011.
  7. ↑ Scicluna, Joe. "Malta Cigarette (Excise Duty) Revenue Labels", Melita - Autumn 2006 (p.8-9)

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