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. [1] [2]
New Zealand's first revenues were imperforate long designs portraying Queen Victoria and inscribed STAMP DUTY NEW ZEALAND. This series was issued on 1 January 1867, however some copies are known used in December 1866. [3] [4] In all, the first set consisted of seventy eight stamps with denominations ranging from 1d to £10. In May 1867, these stamps were reissued perforated 12½, and this time more values were added up to £50. Various changes in the perforation and watermark were also issued around this time. These were replaced by stamps printed by a new die in 1871, with minor differences in the design. [5]
On 15 June 1878, a penny lilac revenue stamp was issued in a design based on that of British revenues. On 14 December 1878, this was replaced by a similar stamp in the same design but in blue. [6]
In 1880, a new design, also portraying Queen Victoria, was issued. These remained in use for over fifty years, and therefore many printings exist with different perforations, watermarks and papers. Many different denominations were issued ranging from 4d to £1000. [7] From 1 April 1882 these became valid for postal use, and postally used copies generally command higher prices than fiscally used ones. [8] [9]
Around 1884, the 1867 imperforate design was reissued in gold, and it was individually printed with the required value at a particular point in time. Government records indicate that the lowest value ordered was £389, and the highest £190,225. [1]
In 1931, a new design featuring the coat of arms was issued. Fifty values from 1s3d to £1000 were issued, and like the Queen Victoria design, the lower values were valid for postage. [10] Higher values were technically valid for postage as well, but they did not see postal use simply because the denominations were higher than the postal rates. [11]
In 1939, some of these were issued overprinted with their face value in large black numerals, in order to help distinguish these values from others which had a similar colour. Twenty eight of these were issued ranging from 3s6d to £1000.
In 1935, the Arms design was issued in gold in a larger format and imperforate for use as high values. The value was printed to order, and government records indicate that 1897 different values were issued, many of them unique. The lowest value known is £2192 and the highest £150,000. [1]
The Arms design was reissued in decimal currency in 1967. This time only four values were issued: $4, $6, $8 and $10. These were also valid for postal use and were often used to mail parcels. There are various watermarks and papers for this issue. [12]
Apart from Stamp Duty revenues, New Zealand also had other types of revenues. These were never valid for postal use.
Various types of duty had their own stamps which were either postage or revenue stamps overprinted, or stamp duty designs with altered inscriptions. These were used for: [13]
Special designs were also issued to pay for the following: [14]
In 1878 a series of large Beer Duty stamps portraying Queen Victoria was issued. These were replaced by a rectangular design in 1885, again with the Queen's portrait. This was replaced by a similar issue portraying King Edward VII in 1908.
Various stamps inscribed UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF, EMPLOYMENT or SOCIAL SECURITY were issued between 1931 and 1958 to pay for wages tax. Many of these were overprinted with a control overprint with the year of issue. Various airports have issued their own stamps to pay for the airport departure fee since 1971. [3] New Zealand has also issued Game Bird Habitat stamps annually since 1994. Despite not being postage stamps, these are marketed by New Zealand Post and first day covers are also produced. [15]
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.
Australia issued revenue stamps from 1907 to 1994. There were various types for different taxes. In addition to Commonwealth issues, the states of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia as well as the territories Australian Capital Territory, North Australia and Northern Territory also had their own stamps.
Mauritius issued revenue stamps from 1 March 1869 to 1904. There were various types of fiscal stamps for different uses.
The Australian state of Victoria issued revenue stamps from 1870 to around 2000. There were various types for different taxes.
The Australian State of Tasmania issued adhesive revenue stamps from 1863 to 1998, although impressed stamps had appeared briefly in the 1820s. There were general revenue and stamp duty issues, as well as a number of specific issues for various taxes.
The island of Cyprus first issued revenue stamps in 1878 and continues to do so to this day. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus also issues its own revenue stamps.
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.
The South African Republic (ZAR), later known as Transvaal issued revenue stamps from 1875 to around 1950. There were a number of different stamps for several taxes.
Cape of Good Hope issued revenue stamps from 1864 to 1961. There were a number of different stamps for several taxes.
Kenya, formerly known as British East Africa issued revenue stamps since 1891. There were numerous types of revenue stamps for a variety of taxes and fees. Also valid for fiscal use in Kenya were postage stamps issued by the following entities:
Nyasaland, now known as Malawi, first issued revenue stamps as British Central Africa in 1891 and continued to do so until the late 1980s.
Revenue stamps of Jamaica were first issued in 1855. There were various types of fiscal stamps for different taxes.
Hong Kong issued revenue stamps from 1867 to the 1990s, both when it was a British colony as well as when it was under Japanese occupation.
Malaysia first issued revenue stamps as the Straits Settlements in 1863, and continues to do so to this day. Over the years, a number of entities in modern Malaysia have issued revenue stamps.
Uganda issued revenue stamps from around 1896 to the 1990s. There were numerous types of revenue stamps for a variety of taxes and fees.
Revenue stamps of Fiji were first issued in 1871 or 1872, when the Fiji islands were an independent kingdom. The first revenue stamps consisted of postage stamps overprinted with the letter D.
Revenue stamps of Seychelles were first issued in 1893, when the islands were a dependency of the British Crown Colony of Mauritius. The first stamps were Mauritius Internal Revenue stamps depicting Queen Victoria overprinted for use in Seychelles, and Bill stamps were also similarly overprinted. Postage stamps depicting Victoria or Edward VII were overprinted for fiscal use at various points between 1894 and 1904, while surcharges on Bill stamps were made in around 1897–98.
Revenue stamps of Montserrat were first issued in 1866, ten years before the island issued its first postage stamps. The island only issued two different designs of revenue stamps, but postage stamps were widely used for fiscal purposes and are still used as such today.
Few revenue stamps of Nigeria and its predecessor states have been issued, since most of the time dual-purpose postage and revenue stamps were used for fiscal purposes. The first revenue-only stamps were consular stamps of the Niger Coast Protectorate and the Southern Nigeria Protectorate, which were created by overprinting postage stamps in 1898 and 1902 respectively. The Northern Nigeria Protectorate did not issue any specific revenue stamps, but a £25 stamp of 1904 could not be used for postal purposes due to its extremely high face value.
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.
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