The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-09-08 00:00:00

INLAND REVENUE.

The reVort of the Inland Revende Ctitintti!Finners. for
the year ending the year ending the 31st of Alaith last
has been issued. The Excise, Stamp, and Legacy
Duties, the Land and Assessed Taxes, and Income-Tax
are all treated of under their several heads. From
the Excise the gross return was 20,823,727, being an
iniprovernerit of £2,343,155, or 12! per Cent., on that
of the preceding year. The chief increase was in
spirits, the consumption-having been large in all parts
of the United Kingdom, and especially in England.
Experiments are still in progress with regard to a patent
Mode of distilling from, mice, and certain alterations about
to be made in the distillery laws will remove any legal
obstacles to its adoption, shotild it be foUnd to answer.
The praCtice of smuggling seems to have been almost en-
tirely reptessed,the prosecutions in England having been
only 112, and in Scotland 17. The number in Ire-
land is not stated, but the vigilance of the officers is
spoken of with approtal. The Use of methylated spirit
(spirit mixed with naphtha for entOoym'ent in the arts)
continues to increase, the quantity having been 460,820
gallons, against 336,610 in the preceding year. Latterly
it has been much used by dyers to produce some of the
bright colours for ladies' dress. The French have long
been in the habit of using alcohol in dying, but in this
country the high duty on spirits acted as a complete
prohibitien, and enabled France to maintain an undouhted
superiority. With regard to beetroot spirits, it appears
that of 12' experimental distilleries originally allowed
to be erected only four have worked during the year,
and that one of these has become bankrupt. The titian;

tity of roots distilled is 3,008 tons, and the produce
about 11 gallons per ton. The quality is mach im-
proved conipared with the first attempts. Two of
the parties working these distilleries have taken a recti-
fier's license, to enable them to convert the spirit into
British brandy and compounds. The exportation of
British brandy during the year was 2,054,234 gallons, an
increase of Si per cent. on the preceding year, and of this
quantity no less than 622,800 gallons was sent to France !
As regards the malt duty, the yield was £6,852,458, an
increase of 22 per cent. The augmentation in the
quantity made has been progressive since 1855. This is
partly attributable to the larger consumption of beer
in Scotland and Ireland since the spirit duties were
raised in those countries, and also to the fact that
the free importation of foreign barley has enabled
malsters to meet the demands of the brewers. The.
Commissioners consider that the reduction of the wine
duty next year to is. will affect the consumption of
spirits rather than that of beer. owing to the perfection
to which the maaufacture of ale has been carried in this
country, and the moderate charge at which it is gene-
rally sold. The admission of foreign malt, hitherto
prohibited, has been recommended under arrangements
which should offer a proper equivalent for the Excise
restrictions on the home manufacturer. The allowance
of drawback on the exportation of malt is also recom-
mended: As the law stands a maltster must elect to
make malt for exportation only, or for home use only.
The number of barrels of beer exported in the year was
631,363, an increase of 12 per cent. on 1859. The
gross receipt on stamp duties varied little from that of
the preceding year, the amount being £8,292,749,
an increase of about a half per cent. The propor-
tion from the penny stamp on receipts and bankers'
checks was £411,435, against £443,574 in 1859. The
abolition of the exemption of checks payable to " self "
will add to the total for the future. From the legacy
duties the aggregate was £3,463,226, a decrease of
nearly 2i per cent. Previously to last year there was
no rise in the scale of probate duty when the personal
property exceeded £1,000,000. An act then passed
has remedied that defect. The loss to the revenue

froth-its absence, had, however, not been serious. The
number of probate stamps for personal property exceed-
ing £1,000,000 had been but twelve during the last
forty-four years, the whole of which have occurred
since 1825. The fact that four out of the twelve
were issued in the last four or five years shows
that from the expansion of trade such fortunes
are becoming more common. The latest instance
was in June, 1859, just before the passing of the Act
which extended the scale. Of the Land and Assessed
Taxes the produce was £3,241,107, an increase of only
about 21 per cent. Of the Income-Tax it was £9,786,483,
an increase of £2,977,251, consequent on the addition of
4d. per pound passed in August, which raised the rate
from sd. to 9d. The annual value of property assessed
under Schedule A amounts to £137,667,000, an increase
of £1,053,000 on the total for the year ending the sth
of April, 1858. This increase arises from an additional
number of houses, and also from improved returns
under the heads of railways and mines. The
profits of trade on which Income-Tax was charged
amounted to £84,811,000, showing a net increase of only
£87,000. London, Leeds, Salford, and Manchester were
among the localities showing an increase, while Liver-
pool, Newcastle, Hull, Bradford, and Wakefield figure
for a decrease. The Manchester increase was only
425,000, a sum which appears much out of harmony
with the Board of Trade returns of the business in cotton
manufactures. The three years' average, however, still
includes the bad time of 1857. The Commissioners

express a general opinion that the amount of evasion
is very considerable, and refer to one instance which will
serve as a strong example in support of Mr. Gladstone's em-
phatic denunciations of the "enormously immoral" charac-
ter of this impost. A firm for many years returned .£6,500 as
the amount of their profits, and were ultimately, upon
the nature of their statement being detected, glad to be
allowed to pay duty on £32,000 per annum. Finally,
the Commissioners report that they have felt it necessary
to abandon the proposal for collecting the Assessed
Taxes and the Income-tax through Government officers,
instead of officers appointed by the parishioners. They
have not in any degree changed their opinion as to ita
desirableness, but, on consulting the local commissioners
throughout the country, they found it would have to
encounter a vehement opposition in Parliament, with
which it would be difficult to eontend. •