A war tax stamp is a type of postage stamp added to an envelope in addition to regular postage. It is similar to a postal tax stamp, but the revenue is used to defray the costs of a war; as with other postal taxes, its use is obligatory for some period of time.
The first war tax stamps were produced in 1874 in Spain, during the Third Carlist War. A decree of October 2, 1873, imposed a war tax on letters and stamped documents. The stamps were issued on January 1, 1874, in two denominations, 5 centimos and 10 centimos, and depicted the Spanish coat of arms along with the inscription "Impuesto de Guerra" or "Impto de Guerra". The 5 centimo value was intended for use on letters, and the 10 centimo for use on stamped documents. [1] A similar set, using different colors, was issued on January 1, 1875. On June 1, 1876, after the Third Carlist War had ended, a further set of five depicting King Alfonso XII was issued. Intended to help pay off war debts, this set bore denominations of 5, 10 and 25 centimos, 1 peseta and 5 pesetas. On September 1, 1877, additional denominations of 15 and 50 centimos were added to this set. A new issue, also bearing King Alfonso's likeness, was prepared and printed for use in 1879. This issue, a set of seven with denominations of 5, 10, 15, 25 and 50 centimos and 1 and 5 pesetas, was never placed in use as a decree of February 4, 1879 lifted the war tax. [2]
Spain also issued war tax stamps in 1897 and 1898, during the Cuban War of Independence and Spanish–American War. The first set, issued in 1897, contained four stamps bearing the numbers 5, 10, 15 and 20, reflecting their denomination in centimos. The war tax was not initially applied to letters, but apparently was extended to them before the end of 1897. Again, the 5 centimo value was used on letters. [3] Like the earlier issues, they were inscribed "Impto de Guerra"; additionally, they were inscribed "1897–98". For the second set, issued in 1898, the inscription was changed to "1898–99". A single stamp was issued in 1898, a 5 centimo value bearing the likeness of King Alfonso XIII. [4]
The majority of war tax stamps were produced during and immediately after World War I, primarily within the British Empire and its dominions. In most cases, they were produced by overprinting regular issues with "WAR TAX" or "WAR STAMP", though the overprint "WAR" was occasionally used (as in the issues of British Honduras). [5] While they were meant to pay for the war tax only, they were often applied toward postage and registration fees. The following British colonies and dominions produced war tax stamps: Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Guiana, British Honduras, Canada, Cayman Islands, Ceylon, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Fiji, Gibraltar, Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Gold Coast, Grenada, Jamaica, Malta, Montserrat, New Zealand, St. Helena, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands and Virgin Islands. [6]
Canada was the first country to issue such stamps during this period, following passage of its Special War Revenue Act in February 1915. Its first war tax stamps, produced by modifying the dies of its King George V stamps to read "WAR TAX", were released in March 1915, in denominations of 1 and 2 cents. There are also denominations in 4 and 8 cents. One bank-note from the 1920s is known to have both the 4 and 8 cent, original style, war-tax stamps. The design was modified again in 1916, applying the inscription "1T¢" to 2 cent stamps. This indicated that the stamps carried both their face value and the tax of 1 cent, conceptually similar to a semi-postal stamp, but whose use was required rather than optional. New Zealand followed Canada's example in September 1915, becoming the second country to issue war tax stamps. [7]
Great Britain and Australia imposed war taxes on mail, but did not issue war tax stamps; instead, they used regular stamps to pay the fees. In the United States, which also imposed a war tax following its entry into the war in 1917, the rate for a first-class letter was raised from 2 cents to 3 cents; the added cent was used to pay the tax. A special stamp depicting the allegorical figure of Victory and flags of the Allies was issued to pay this rate.
After Portugal entered World War I in March 1916, several of its colonies issued war tax stamps as well. Most of these were produced by overprinting "TAXA DE GUERRA" on existing stamps, though Mozambique issued a set of two which depicted allegorical figures of History and the Republic. [8] The Portuguese colonies of Macao, Mozambique, Portuguese Africa, Portuguese Guinea, Portuguese India and Timor issued war tax stamps. [9]
Though many countries (e.g., Australia) imposed taxes on mail during World War II, regular stamps were used to pay those taxes. One exception was North Borneo, which issued two war tax stamps in February 1941. These were produced by overprinting "WAR TAX" on the 1 and 2 cent values of a 1939 set of regular stamps. [10]
War tax stamps were issued by Bahrain in 1973 and 1974, with a denomination of 5 fils. [11]
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Zeppelin mail was mail carried on zeppelins, the German airships that saw civilian use from 1908 to 1939. Almost every zeppelin flight carried mail, sometimes in large quantities; the covers usually received special postmarks, and a number of nations issued postage stamps specifically intended for use on mail carried by the zeppelins.
Eastern Rumelia or Eastern Roumelia was an autonomous province (vilayet) in the Ottoman Empire from 1878 to 1908; however, it was under Bulgarian control beginning in 1885. The province is remembered today by philatelists for having issued postage stamps from 1881 on, although a postcard was issued locally for internal use in 1880.
The postal history of Northern Epirus, a region in the western Balkans, in southern modern Albania, comprises two periods; 1912–1916 and 1940-41. Northern Epirus was under Greek administration during the First Balkan War (1912–1913), but it was then awarded to the newly founded Albanian state by the Florence Protocol (1913). During this period, Greek stamps were used. Greece withdrew from the region in early 1914. The people of Epirus were unwilling to be part of Albania, though, and launched a revolution. Under a provisional government, the independent Northern Epirus was formed in February 1914 and it eventually managed to gain full autonomy under nominal Albanian sovereignty, according to the Protocol of Corfu. Northern Epirus operated its own postal service and issued postage stamps, both official and unofficial, during that year.
In philately, the denomination is the "inscribed value of a stamp".
Each "article" in this category is in fact a collection of entries about several stamp issuers, presented in alphabetical order. The entries themselves are formulated on the micro model and so provide summary information about all known issuers.
Each "article" in this category is a collection of entries about several stamp issuers, presented in alphabetical order. The entries are formulated on the micro model and so provide summary information about all known issuers.
Each "article" in this category is a collection of entries about several stamp issuers, presented in alphabetical order. The entries are formulated on the micro model and so provide summary information about all known issuers.
The British post offices in Morocco, also known as the "Morocco Agencies", were a system of post offices operated by Gibraltar and later the United Kingdom in Morocco.
Postage stamps and postal history of the Canal Zone is a subject that covers the postal system, postage stamps used and mail sent to and from the Panama Canal Zone from 1904 up until October 1978, after the United States relinquished its authority of the Zone in compliance with the treaty it reached with Panama.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Croatia.
The postal history of Turkey and its predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire, dates to the 18th century when foreign countries maintained courier services through their consular offices in the Empire. Although delayed in the development of its own postal service, in 1863 the Ottoman Empire became the second independent country in Asia to issue adhesive postage stamps, and in 1875, it became a founding member of the General Postal Union, soon to become the Universal Postal Union. The Ottoman Empire became the Republic of Turkey in 1923, and in the following years, its postal service became more modernized and efficient and its postage stamps expertly designed and manufactured.
Admirals are a series of definitive stamps issued by three countries of the British Commonwealth that show King George V of Great Britain and the British Dominions. The stamps are referred to as the Admirals because King George is depicted in his Admiral of the Fleet uniform. The stamps were issued by Canada in 1911–1928, New Zealand in 1926, and Rhodesia in 1913–24.
Bahrain first used the postage stamps of British India before eventually issuing its own stamps in 1960.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Spain.
The first revenue stamps in the United States were used briefly during colonial times, among the most notable usage involved the Stamp Act. Long after independence, the first revenue stamps printed by the United States government were issued in the midst of the American Civil War, prompted by the urgent need to raise revenue to pay for the great costs it incurred. After the war ended however, revenue stamps and the taxes they represented still continued. Revenue stamps served to pay tax duties on items that came under two main categories, Proprietary and Documentary. Proprietary stamps paid tax duties on goods like alcohol and tobacco, and were also used for various services, while Documentary stamps paid duties on legal documents, mortgage deeds, stocks and a fair number of other legal dealings. Proprietary and Documentary stamps often bore these respective designations, while in several of the issues they shared the same designs, sometimes with minor variations. Beginning in 1862 the first revenue stamps were issued, and would continue to be used for another hundred years and more. For the first twelve years George Washington was the only subject featured on U.S. revenue stamps, when in 1875 an allegorical figure of Liberty finally appeared. Revenue stamps were printed in many varieties and denominations and are widely sought after by collectors and historians. Revenue stamps were finally discontinued on December 31, 1967.
The Regular Issues of 1922–1931 were a series of 27 U.S. postage stamps issued for general everyday use by the U.S. Post Office. Unlike the definitives previously in use, which presented only a Washington or Franklin image, each of these definitive stamps depicted a different president or other subject, with Washington and Franklin each confined to a single denomination. The series not only restored the historical tradition of honoring multiple presidents on U.S. Postage but extended it. Offering the customary presidential portraits of the martyred Lincoln and Garfield, the war hero Grant, and the founding fathers Washington and Jefferson, the series also memorialized some of the more recently deceased presidents, beginning with Hayes, McKinley, Cleveland and Roosevelt. Later, the deaths of Harding, Wilson and Taft all prompted additions to the presidential roster of Regular Issue stamps, and Benjamin Harrison's demise (1901) was belatedly deemed recent enough to be acknowledged as well, even though it had already been recognized in the Series of 1902. The Regular Issues also included other notable Americans, such as Martha Washington and Nathan Hale—and, moreover, was the first definitive series since 1869 to offer iconic American pictorial images: these included the Statue of Liberty, the Capitol Building and others. The first time (1869) that images other than portraits of statesmen had been featured on U.S. postage, the general public disapproved, complaining that the scenes were no substitute for images of presidents and Franklin. However, with the release of these 1922 regular issues, the various scenes—which included the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial and even an engraving of an American Buffalo—prompted no objections. To be sure, this series presented pictorial images only on the higher-value stamps; the more commonly used denominations, of 12 cents and lower, still offered the traditional portraits.
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.
Puerto Rico topics have been featured on the stamps of Spain and of the United States. Spanish stamps are found at Postage stamps and postal history of Puerto Rico.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Holstein, Schleswig-Holstein, Schleswig and incidentally Lauenberg. Separate stamps were issued for Holstein (1850), Schleswig (1864-1867), Holstein (1864-1866), Schleswig-Holstein (1865) and Schleswig (1920).