Inland Revenue
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Inland Revenue logo from 2005 |
The
Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a
department of the
British Government responsible for the collection of
direct , including
income tax,
national insurance contributions,
capital gains tax,
inheritance tax,
corporation tax,
petroleum revenue tax and
stamp duty. More recently, the Inland Revenue also administered the Tax Credits schemes (see [
1]), whereby monies, such as
Working Tax Credit (WTC) and
Child Tax Credit (CTC), are paid by the Government into a recipient's bank account or as part of their wages. The Inland Revenue was also responsible for the payment of
child benefit.
The Inland Revenue was merged with
HM Customs and Excise to form a new department,
HM Revenue and Customs, with effect from
18 April 2005. However, it is still widely, if erroneously, known by British people as the legal tax department, and often referred to as "the Revenue".
The beginnings of the Inland Revenue date from
1665, when a Board of Taxes was set up following the introduction of special taxes to pay for the
Second Anglo-Dutch War. A central organisation to supervise the collection of the special taxes was required.
Taxes administered by the Board of Taxes included the land tax, first levied in
1692, together with an assortment of other assessed taxes, including taxes on houses,
windows and dogs. Income tax was introduced in various forms in
1797,
1799,
1803 to
1816, and then reintroduced as an annual tax in
1842 which is formally renewed in each year's
Finance Act.
A separate Board of Stamps was created by the
Stamps Act 1694. During the
18th and early
19th centuries, stamp duties were extended to cover
newspapers,
pamphlets,
lottery tickets,
apprentices'
indentures,
advertisements,
playing cards,
dice,
hats,
gloves,
patent medicines,
perfumes,
insurance policies,
gold and
silver plate,
hair powder and
armorial bearings (coats of arms).
In June
1833, a single body of Commissioners was set up to merge the revenues of stamps and taxes. The Board of Taxes and the Board of Stamps were formally combined under the
Land Tax Act 1834.
The Board of Inland Revenue was created under the
Inland Revenue Board Act 1849, after the Board of Excise and the Board of Stamps and Taxes were amalgamated. Responsibility for
excise taxes was transferred to the Board of
Customs and Excise in
1909.
The
2004 Budget included proposals to merge HM Customs and Excise with the Board of Inland Revenue to form a new department,
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The merger was implemented by the
Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 with effect from
18 April 2005.
*
HM Revenue and Customs - Formed by the 2005 merger of the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise
*
Inland Revenue Department (Hong Kong) - a department of
Hong Kong Government responsible for collecting tax
*
Internal Revenue Service â€"
United States tax collection department
*
HM Revenue & Customs*
Records of the Boards of Stamps, Taxes, Excise, Stamps and Taxes, and Inland Revenue*
History of tax
