Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1862-12-05
Decisions by the Commissioners Of
Revenue.

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue has
made large number of decisions on ques-
tons which have arisen in the assessment and
collection of the. tax. We select q few of
these decisions as being more applicable to
the West
Decision in Reference to Sale of Liquors.
Alcohol, or spirituous liquors of any kind,
can only be used by an apothecary in COM
pounding medicines. When sold otherwise
he will be required to take license as a dealer.
A license to wholesale liquor confers no
authority upon the party holding such license
to retail liquor. Nor does license to sell
liquor authorize the sale of any other kind Of
merchandise. ava
In Regard to Stamps upon Instrunaeafs.-'
In stamping promissory notes or other instru-
ments requiring stamps under the provisions
of the Excise Law, two or more of smaller
denomination may be used in numbers sutfi-
cient to amount to the sum of the stamps re-
quired; Provided, that they are of the kind
denominated for the kind of instrument to
which the stamps are applied.
A stamp will be required upon every Ger
tificate which has, or may have. legal value
in any court of law or equity.
Certificates, warrants, orders, and drafts,
by one State officer upon another, for the pur-
pose of carrying on the Internal business of
the Government, are not subject to stamp
tax. The same rule applies to the certificates,
orders &C., of county, city and town officers.
Messages transmitted by telegraph and rail
road companies over their own wires, on their
own business. for which they receive no pay,
are not taxable.
In Relation to the Talidity Of Unstamped
Instruments executed previous to jan. LIST,
ls63.-Sec. "a chap. 1853, approved July
l6, 1851 And be it further enacted, That
the 95th section Of the act entitled IAN act
to provide internal revenue to support the
Government, and (to) pay interest on the
public debt" approved July l, 1862, be so
amended that no instrument, document or
paper, made, signed or issued prior to the 1st
day of January, 1868, without being duly
| stamped or having thereon an adhesive stamp
to denote the duty imposed thereon shall for
that cause be deemed invalid and of no effect.
Provided, however, that no instrument, docu-
ment or paper shall be admitted or used as
| evidence in any court, until the same shall
have been duly stamped, nor until the holder
thereof shall have proved to the satisfaction of
the court that he has paid to the collector or
deputy collector Of the district within which
such court may be held the sum of SIS for the
use of the United States.
In Reference to Hearing of appeals by
| assessors. are not to give fifteen
days to each county, but only so much time
after the expiration of the notice as may be
necessary. Quite likely day or two may
suffice, as in some counties there may be no
appeal. The hearing will be summary and
binary cases to argue matters at length
In Reference to Produce Dealsrs.-Per-
sons buying produce, butter, eggs, &C., and
forwarding the same to wholesale or commits
sion merchants, to be sold by them, are not
subject to license tax in consequence of
such buying; Provided, they buy for them
selves. But if they buy for others they are
liable to the license, as Commercial Brokers'
Nursery"sen and Tree Eealers.-Nursery-
men are required to take out licenses, as
wholesale or retail dealers, as the case NAV
be; and tree dealers, who buy to sell again,
! if they peddle their trees, must take out
licenses as pedders, and also as dealers, if
they have places of business.
Inc ntCoHuC otUHtNS-OOLllklISSIO
Boutwell, announces that the use of nine va
rieties of revenue stamps will be compulsory
on and after the first of December:
TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICF OF INrERNAL)
REVENUE. WAsHISaroN. d G., Nov. II, 1862. (
The Commissioner of Internal Revenue is
prepared to issue the following stamps in
quantities sufficient for the use of the people
| of the District of Columbia and of the States
east of the Rocky Mountains, viz: Playing
cards, proprietary, express, telegraph, insur-
ance life assurance, fire and marine, passage
tickets and protest The use of the stamps
herein specified is hereby required in the
District and States above described on and af-
ter the first day of December next, and per-
sons guilty Of wilfully neglecting to use said
stamps will be subject to the penalty provid-
ed in the law. GEORGE S. boutwell,,
Commissioner Of Internal Revenue.
In Reference to Collectors Of Ren's-A
person engaged in settling an estate, who COL
lebts rents merely as an incident thereto, and
not as an occupation, is not liable to license
as Commercial Broker. If, however, he in
any way indicates his readiness to engage in
such business, and accepts it whenever offer
ed, then he is liable to a license tax under
section 81, item IA. The amount of business
actually done, is not conclusive evidence upon
the point. The main inquiry is, is it the per-
sons occupation ito purchase, rent or sell
real estate for others?" Nor is it necessary
that he should be engaged exclusively in this
employment.
Interpreting. Section II, in relation to
Carriages, YacAts, Billiard Tables and
Plate.-Sec. n. The phrase ''any person
or persons owning, possessing or keeping any
carriage, yacht or billiard-table." is to be in
terpreted as referring to three different classes
of owners, viz Such as possess any carriage;
and as second class, such as possess any
yacht and as a third class, such as possess
any billiard-table.
There is nothing in the wording of the law
referring to plate that could lead to the in
ference that the tax upon it is to be made con-
tingent upon the keeping of a carriage, yacht
or billiard-table.
The tax of $40 upon billiard-tables kept for
use, as provided in Schedule A, does not ap-
ply to billiard tables kept for hire and sub
iected to license tax in Section Ga. Article
20.
The phrase "kept for use," employed in
reference to silver plate, is construed to- except
silver plate or ware "kept for SALE" and also
that which is in possession of family, or its
members, as souvenirs or keepsakes
The plate properly taxable, is that which
has been purchased for the use of the family,
or has been presented to the family, as part
of the household furniture, and as such is
kept for use, whether for ornament or actual
service. In the execution of the law, asses
sors are directed to allow owners of silver
ware to have the same weighed, and to make
a report thereof.
Defining Who must haze a Pedd,er Ii
ense.-Dealers in ice, who supply customers
from carts and wagons, collecting their bills
monthly or at the end of the season do not