Capital Philately

QUEENSLAND STAMP DUTY RATES,1866 TO 1915Ian McMahon

The first adhesive Queensland dutystamps were issued in 1866 followingthe passing of the Stamp Duties Actwhich came into effect on 22 October1866. This Act imposed stamp dutyon a wide range of financialtransactions and provided._ forpayment of duty by either adhesivestamps or by stamps impressed ondocuments pertaining to thetransaction ("impressed duty").From 1 January 1880 until 1 July1892 Queensland postage stamps andduty stamps were interchangeable.No separate duty stamps were issuedduring this period as the postagestamp series also served as dutystamps. To coincide with theremoval of interchangeability, a newseries of duty stamps were issued on1 July 1892 although the 1d postagestamp continued to be valid forstamp duty purposes until federationOn 1 November 1894 the Stamp Act1894 came· into effect. Changes tothe stamp duty system included theintroduction of a system ofimpressed duty by which adhesivestamps had to be affixed andcancelled by the Stamp Duty Officeat the time of sale of the stamps.This system was introduced to try toprevent the evasion of stamp dutywhich seemed to be prevalent in thecolony and was particularlyimportant as stamp duties were amajor source of revenue for theAustralian colonies and could easilyrun into hundreds of pounds on largemortgages or estates. In 1890 stampduties· amounted to 133 983 poundsout of total taxation revenue of 1437 666 poundss. Evasion of duty,forgery or reuse of duty stamps andfailure to cancel duty stamps allattracted heavy fines.This articleduty rates ofperiod 1866 toindication of

discusses the stampQueensland over the1916 and provides anthe wide variety of

May 1989

transaction on which duty waspayable and how very large amountsof duty could very easily arise.Drafts, promissory notes, receipts,cheques and bills of exchange.In 1866 the duty on drafts,promissory notes and bills ofexchange was 1/- per each 50 poundswhile the duty on receipts andcheques greater than 20/- in valuewas 1d. From 1894 duty on·receiptswas changed to 1d for receipts from1 pounds to 2 pounds, 2d forreceipts from 2 pounds to 50 pounds,3d for receipts up to 100 pounds andthen 4d for each 1000 pounds. Abill of exchange, payable on demandwas charged a duty of 1d.BanJenotesFrom 1866 to 1893 the duty onbanknotes was 3 pounds for each 100pounds of average annualcirculation. For every 100 poundsof banknotes reissued after 30 June1893, the duty was increased to 10pounds. This increase in duty .wasintended to discourage private banksfrom issuing their own banknotes andwas accompanied by the issuing ofQueensland Government banknotes.Agreements, bills of ladingAll agreements over 5 pounds w~recharged 2/6 while bills of ladingwere charged 1/- with 6d for eachreceipt.LeasesThe duty on leases where the rentwas 50 pounds or less was 2/6, 100pounds or leases 5/- and for eachadditional 100 pounds in value 5/-.Transfer or cancellation of a leasewas charged duty of half thatoriginally paid.MortgagesIn 1866 the duty payable onmortgages was 5/- per 50 poundsvalue while that payable on

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Capital Philately

registration of deeds was 2/6.Transfer of a mortgage was chargedduty of half that originally paid.In 1885 the duty on mortgages for a"sum certain" was 5/- per 50 poundsvalue with a duty of 2/6 payable onrelease of the mortgage and 5/- per50 pounds for any additionaladvance. The duty for mortgages tosecure the repayment of futureadvances was 15/- if the amount wasnot stated.From 1890 these rates weresimplified to 5/- per 50 pounds witha charge of 2/6 for transfer of themortgage and 2/6 for release of themortgage. From 1894 the dutycharged on mortgages was 2/6 per 50pounds value while the transfer of amortgage attracted duty of 1/3 per50 pounds and release of a mortgageattracted a duty of 2/6.Transfers or conveyance of propertyIn 1866 the duty payable on thetransfer of shares of a publiccompany was 2/6 per each 50 poundsof value. From 1890 the rate was 6dfor each 10 pounds. In 1866 theduty payable on t.z ansf e r o.f a run orstation was 10/- per 100 pounds andthe duty payable on transfer ofproperty other than shares or runswas 7/6 for up to 50 pounds, IS/-for up to 100 pounds and 15/- foreach additional 100 pounds.From 1894 deeds of any kind notelsewhere specified were chargedduty of 10/-. Registration ofinstruments under the Real PropertyActs was charged duty of 2/6.AppointmentsFrom 1890 theappointment of10/-.

duty charged ona new trustee

thewas

InsuranceFor policies of 6 months or less theduty was 6d per 100 pounds. Forpolicies over 6 months the chargewas 1/- per 100 pounds. Timepolicies on ships or goods carried

May 1989

by ship for a period of over threemonths were charged 2/6. The dutyon other policies was 1/- per 100pounds.From 1894 duty on insurance policieson property was 1/- per 100 poundsinsured for a period over six monthsand 6d per 100 pounds for periodsless then 6 months. Insurance forships or goods carried by ships was3d for every 100 pounds insured. A3% duty was charged on insurancepolicies on wool, skins, meat andsugar. Accident insurance wascharged 1/- per 100 pounds. Theduty on all other policies was 1/-per 100 pounds.ArticlesThe dutywas tenarticlesguinea.

on articles ofguineas while

of apprenticeshipclerkshipthat onwas one

BondsBonds for the payment of money werecharged duty of 2/6 per 100 pounds.Transfer of bonds were charged 5/-while other types of bond werecharged 10/-. From 1894 all bondswere charged duty of 10/-.AwardsProbate and Administration of WilLsIn 1866 the duty charged for theprobate of a will was 10/- for willsof up to 50 pounds in value, 1 poundfor up to 100 pounds in value andthen 1 pound for each additional 100pounds. The corresponding rates forletters of administration were 15/-,30/- and 30/-. In 1886 probate ofwills and letters of administrationwere charged duty at the followingrates: no duty for estates of lessthan 100 pounds and then 2% of thevalue of the estate for estates upto 1000 pounds, 3% up to 10 000pounds, 4% up to 20 000 pounds and5% for estates over 20 000 pounds.(Half rates were payable on thatpart of the estate going to thetestate's wife or children). In 1892

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Capital Philately May 1989

the rates of duty were changed to:no duty for estates up to 50 pounds,10/- for estates up to 100 pounds, 1pound for estates up to 200 pounds,2 pounds up to 500 pounds and 5pounds for estates over 500 pounds.The administration of wills wascharged twice this rate of duty.From 1892 succession duties were nilup to 200 pounds, 2% up to 1000pounds, 3% up to 2500 pounds, 4% pto 5000 pounds, 6% up to 10 000pounds, 8% up to 20 000 pounds and10% over 20 000 pounds. Half rateswere charged for succession to wivesand children and double rates to"strangers in blood" and charitableinstitutions (up to a maximum of10%). From 1905 probate andadministration duties were changedto nil for estates less than 300pounds but otherwise 1 pound forevery 100 pounds. Succession dutiesremained the same except thatbequests to charitable institutionsand for educational purposes withinQueensland were now exempt.Foreign companiesFrom 1896 to 1909 the duty payableon the registration of a foreigncompany was 10/- for companies witha nominal capital of up to 1000pounds and 1/- for each additional1000 pounds of capital. Theregistration of any documentrequired to be registered under theForeign Companies Act of 1895required the payment of 5/- duty.Charter-partyA charter-party was a deed between ashipowner and a merchant for the

hire of a s.hipanq th~ d~li~~ryof acargo. From 1893 where the charterwas less than 20 pounds then theduty was 10/-, where it was lessthan 100 pounds then the duty was15/- and on charters over 100 poundsthe duty was 1 pound.Beer DutyIn 1885 a beer duty of 3d per gallonwas introduced and a separate seriesof beer duty stamps introduced.This duty remained in effect untilthe introduction of the Commonwealthexcise of 2d a gallon in 1902.Liens on cropsFrom 1870 the duty on theregistration of re.moyablelien~ on agrowing crop which does not come tomaturity within a year was 2/6.ExemptionsSome transactions exempt from dutywere agreements less than 5 pounds,drafts used solely to transfer moneybetween Queensland banks,debentures, promissory notes,treasury notes issued by theQueensland Government, leases fromthe Queensland Government and lifepolicies less than 50 pounds.ReferencesQueensland Government Gazette 1866Votes and Proceedings of theQueensland Legislative Assembly 1866to 1916.W • D. Craig, The Revenue Stamps ofQueensland, Hobart, 1982.

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The cost (for the two volumes) is $38.00, plus $6.00 for postage and packing to the ACT.The price is $33.00 (plus postage) for CSA members. The price for orders of five or morecopies is $30.00 each (plus postage). Why not join now, at $10.00 per year you save $3.00straight away. Your subscription will help support the publication of more works ofthis Kind.

Dingle Smith

BANANA LEVY- WHAT'S NEW?

Dingle Smith

The Queensland issues for fruit and vegetable levies are among the most esoteric ofAustralian revenue stamps. For those philatelists whose interest are restricted topostage stamps these issues are regarded as at the lunatic fringe. The levy stamps wereIssued in the 1940's and withdrawn in 1961 after a High Court decision that they wereunconstitutional, see Craig (1982). Examples are rare and no full listing of issued valueshas yet appeared although the archival proofs are described by Elsmore (1988).

A particularly interesting example was recently shown to me by Ed Druce. This isillustrated below and is the first recorded overprint on these issues. The basic stamp isthe 6d Banana Levy, roughly perforated 13, but it has been overprinted, apparentlywith a rubber hand stamp, 'vegetable' and the word 'Levy' added in manuscript. Thelikely explanation is that there was a shortage of the vegetable stamps and surplusbanana values were used. The stamp is also unusual in that it is printed on securitypaper which reads 'Queensland Duty', see below. The levy stamps are normally onunwatermarked paper. The same collection of banana stamps included other unusedvalues (1d, 3d and 6d) on gummed rouletted paper. Additionally the 1d roulettedvalues were in two colours, dark blue and turquoise, with the 3d value in purple and inbistre. These could be proofs but this is unlikely as they do not correspond to the listingproduced by Elsmore. Do you have any of these, if so let Capital Philately know?

Craig, W.D. 1982. The revenue stamps of Queensland. Revenue and RailstampPublications.

Elsmore, D. 1988. Queensland revenue proofs. Cinderella Stamp Club of Australia.

Security paper, 'vegetable' overprint & rouletted examplelactual size)

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Capital Philately

Queensland National Parks andWildife Camping Coupons

Ian McMahonOn 1 November 1988 the QueenslandNational Parks and Wildlife Sevice(QNPWS) introduced a new system forthe payment of national parkcamping fees. The system allowsfor the payment of fees by'coupons' which are to be attachedto the camping permit.The 'coupons' were issued in thedenominations of 50c, $2, $5 and$7. The camping fees varieddepending on the campground. Eachcampground has been classified intoone of three categories: A, B, orC. Fees (for up to six people) forcategory A campgrounds are $7 persite, category B $5 per site andcategory C $2 per person (up to amaximum of $5 per site for sixpeople). Seven days camping is

August 1989

provided for the cost of six days.The 'coupons' are 46mm x 26mm insize and are roulette 9. Thedesigns feature rainforest animalsfrom North Queensland with theCassowary featured on the 50ccoupon, the Herbert River Ringtailon the $2, the Torresian Pigeon onthe $5 and the Amethystine Pythonon the $7.Despite being described as coupons,they are stamp-like and fallclearly into the realm of thecinderella collector. The QNPWSbrochures state that the couponsare not valid for postal purposesor for any other purpose than thepayment of camping fees. They areavailable for purchase at selectedQNPWS outlets (including the headoffice at PO Box 155, North Quay,Qld 4002) and are sold at a ten percent discount to encourage theiruse. QNPWS will refund unusedcoupons less a $5 handling fee.

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