Postal fiscal stamp

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A New Zealand stamp duty revenue stamp used postally in Christchurch, New Zealand, 1894. New Zealand 1894 postal fiscal cover used Christchurch.jpg
A New Zealand stamp duty revenue stamp used postally in Christchurch, New Zealand, 1894.

A postal fiscal is a revenue stamp that has been authorised for postal use. [1] Postal fiscals may arise because there is a shortage of postage stamps for a country or out of economy to use up obsolete or excess stocks of revenue stamps. Postal fiscals are to be distinguished from stamps marked "Postage and Revenue" which were always intended for either use, or revenue stamps used postally by accident or because local postal regulations did not prohibit such use. Postal fiscal status may usually only be identified from the cancels on used stamps or where the stamp is found on cover.

Contents

United Kingdom

A British 6d Inland Revenue stamp used at Bradford, 1892. British 6d postal fiscal cover 1892 Bradford.jpg
A British 6d Inland Revenue stamp used at Bradford, 1892.

Postal fiscals were authorised from 1 June 1881. [2] These stamps were also postally valid in British colonies such as Malta which used British stamps at that time and in British post offices abroad in places such as Beirut.

New Zealand

From 1 April 1882 revenue stamps became valid for postal use and vice versa. This continued until the 1960s. [3] New Zealand fiscals overprinted for various Pacific islands were similarly valid for postal purposes, and in islands such as Niue and Tokelau they were only used postally and were not valid for fiscal use.

Other countries

Several other countries have used postal fiscal stamps, including Bechuanaland, Dominica, Hong Kong, Tobago, Venezuela and Western Australia.

See also

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Revenue stamp

A revenue stamp, tax stamp, duty stamp or fiscal stamp is a (usually) adhesive label used to collect taxes or fees on documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, drugs and medicines, playing cards, hunting licenses, firearm registration, and many other things. Typically businesses purchase the stamps from the government, and attach them to taxed items as part of putting the items on sale, or in the case of documents, as part of filling out the form.

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Postage stamps and postal history of Dominica

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Revenue stamps of Malta

Revenue stamps of Malta were first issued in 1899, when the islands were a British colony. From that year to 1912, all revenue issues were postage stamps overprinted accordingly, that was either done locally or by De La Rue in London. Postage stamps also became valid for fiscal use in 1913, so no new revenues were issued until 1926–30, when a series of key type stamps depicting King George V were issued. These exist unappropriated for use as general-duty revenues, or with additional inscriptions indicating a specific use; Applications, Contracts, Registers or Stocks & Shares. The only other revenues after this series were £1 stamps depicting George VI and Elizabeth II. Postage stamps remained valid for fiscal use until at least the 1980s.

Revenue stamps of Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago, formerly divided as two separate colonies, issued revenue stamps from 1879 to around 1991.

Revenue stamps of British Guiana

Revenue stamps of British Guiana refer to the various revenue or fiscal stamps, whether adhesive or directly embossed, which were issued by British Guiana prior to the colony's independence as Guyana in 1966. Between the 1860s and 1890s, the colony issued Inland Revenue and Summary Jurisdiction stamps, while revenue stamps and dual-purpose postage and revenue stamps were issued during the late 19th and 20th centuries. In around the 1890s or 1900s, British Guiana possibly issued stamps for taxes on medicine and matches, but it is unclear if these were actually issued. Guyana continued to issue its own revenue stamps after independence.

Revenue stamps of New Zealand

New Zealand first issued revenue stamps on 1 January 1867 and their general use continued until the early 1950s. The only Revenue Stamp series still in use today is the Game Bird Habitat stamp which is used for payment of the Gun License for the duck shooting season which begins the first weekend of May. There were various types of fiscal stamps for different taxes.

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Postage and revenue stamp

A postage and revenue stamp, sometimes also called a dual-purpose stamp, is a stamp which is equally valid for use as a postage stamp and as a revenue stamp. They often but not always bear an inscription such as "Postage and Revenue". Dual-purpose stamps were common in the United Kingdom and the British Empire during the 19th and 20th centuries, and they are still used in some countries as of the early 21st century.

Revenue stamps of Guyana refer to the various revenue or fiscal stamps, whether adhesive, directly embossed or otherwise, which have been issued by Guyana since its independence in 1966. Prior to independence, the country was known as British Guiana, and it had issued its own revenue stamps since the 19th century. Guyana used dual-purpose postage and revenue stamps until 1977, and it issued revenue-only stamps between 1975 and the 2000s. The country has also issued National Insurance stamps, labels for airport departure tax and excise stamps for cigarettes and alcohol.

Revenue stamps of Dominica were first issued in 1877, when the island was under British rule. Dominica issued very few revenue stamps, but dual-purpose postage and revenue stamps were widely used for fiscal purposes.

References

  1. Mackay, James. Stamp Collecting: Philatelic Terms Illustrated. 4th edition. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2003, p. 109. ISBN   0852595573
  2. Patrick, Douglas & Mary. The Hodder Stamp Dictionary. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1973, p. 189. ISBN   0340171839
  3. Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth and British Empire Stamps 1840-1970. 112th edition. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2010, pp. 445-447. ISBN   0852597312