Finance (New Duties) Act, 1916

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FINANCE (NEW DUTIES) ACT 1916

CHAPTER 11.

An Act to impose Duties in respect of admission to Entertainments, Matches, Table Waters and other Bevarages, and Cider; and for purposes connected therewith. [19th April 1916.]

Most Gracious Sovereign,

We Your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled, towards raising the necessary supplies to defray Your Majesty’s public expenses, and making an addition to the public revenue, have freely and voluntarily resolved to give and grant unto Your Majesty the several duties herein-after mentioned; and do therefore most humbly beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted, by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lord Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Duty on payments for admission to entertainments.

1.—(1) There shall, as from the fifteenth day of May, nineteen hundred and sixteen, be charged, levied and paid on all payments for admission to any entertainment as defined by this Act as Excise duty (in this Act referred to as “entertainments duty”) at the following rate (namely):—

Where the payment, excluding the amount of the duty,—

(2) No person shall be admitted for payment to any entertainment where the payment is subject to entertainments duty except—

(a) with a ticket stampd with a stamp (not before used) denoting that the proper entertainments duty has been paid; or

(b) in special cases with the approval of the Commissioners, through a barrier which, or by means of a mechanical contrivance which, automatically registeres the number of persons admitted,

unless the proprietor of the entertainment has made arrangements approved by the Commissioners for funishing returns of the payments for admission to the entertainment and has given security up to an amount and in a manner approved by the Commissioners for the payment of duty.

If any person is admitted for payment to any place of entertainment and the provisions of this section are not complied with, the person admitted and the proprietor of the entertainment to which he is admitted shall be liable in respect of each offence to an excise penalty, in the case of the person admitted of five pounds, and in the case of the proprietor of fifty pounds, and the proprietor shall in addition be liable to pay any duty which should have been paid.

(3) Entertainments duty shall be charged in respect of each person admitted for payment, and, in the case of admission by stamped ticket, shall be paid by means of the stamp on the ticket, and, in the case of admission otherwise than by stamped ticket, shall be calcualted and paid on the number of admissions.

Entertainments duty, in the case of admission otherwise than by stamped ticket, shall be recoverable from the proprietor, and may, if the amount of duty is less than fifty pounds, without prejudice to any other means of recovery, be recovered by the Commissioners summarily as a civil debt.

(4) Where the payment for admission to an entertainment is made by means of a lump sum paid as a subscription or contribution to any club, association, or society, or for a season ticket or for the right of admission to a series of entertainments or to any entertainment during a certain period of time, the entertainments duty shall be paid on the amount of the lump sum, but where the Commissioners are of opinion that the payment of a lump sum or any payment for a ticket represents payment for other privileges, rights or purposes besides the admission to an entertainment, or covers admission to an entertainment during any period for which the duty has not been in operation, the duty shall be charged on such an amount as appears to the Commissioners to represent the right of admission to entertainments in respect of which entertainments duty is payable.

(5) Entertainments duty shall not be charged on payments for admission to any entertainment where the Commissioners are satisfied—

(a) that the whole of the takings thereof are devoted to philanthropic or charitable purposes without any charge on the takings for any expenses of the entertainment; or

(b) that the entertainment is of a wholly educational character (any question on that point to be determined in case of difference by the Board of Education); or

(c) that the entertainment is intended only for the amusement of children, and that the charge is not more than one penny for each person; or

(d) that the entertainment is provided for partly edcational or partly scientific purposes by a society, institution, or committee not conducted or established for profit, or is provided by any such society or institution, which has been founded with the object of reviving national pastimes, in furtherance of that object.

Where the Commissioners are satisfied that the whole of the net proceeds of an entertainment are devoted to philanthropic or charitable purposes, and that the whole of the expenses of the entertainment do not exceed twenty per cent. of the receipts, they shall repay to the proprietor the amount of the entertainments duty paid in respect of the entertainment.

In this subsection the Scotch Education Department, as respects entertainments in Scotland, and the Lord Lieutenant, as respects entertainments in Ireland, shall be substituted for the Board of Education.

(6) For the purpose of the provisions of this Act relating to entertainments duty—

The expression “entertainment” includes any exhibition, performance, amusement, game or sport to which persons are admitted for payment; and the expression “admission to an entertainment” includes admission to any place in which the entertainment is held;

The expression “admission” means admission as a spectator or one of an audience, and the expression “payment on admission” includes any payment made by a person who, having been admitted to one part of a place of entertainment, is subsequently admitted to another part thereof for admission to which a payment involving duty or more duty is requried;

The expression “proprietor” in relation to any entertainment includes any person responsible for the management thereof.

Supplemental provisions as to entertainments duty.

54 & 55 Vict. c. 38. 8 Edw. 7. c. 48.

2.—(1) The Commissioners may make regulations for securing the payment of entertainments duty and generally for carrying the provisions of this Act as to entertainments duty into effect, and in particular—

(a) for the supply and use of stamps or stanped tickets, or for the stamping of tickets sent to be stamped; and for securing the defacement of stamps when used; and

(b) for the use of tickets covering the admission of more than one person and the calculation of the duty thereon; and for the payment of duty on the transfer from one part of a place of entertainment to another; and

(c) for controlling the use of barriers or mechanical contrivances (including the prevention of the use of the same barrier or mechanical contrivance for payments of a different amount), and for securing proper records of admission by means of barriers or mechanical contrivances.

If any person acts in contravention of or fails to comply with any such regulations he shall be liable in respect of each offence to an Excise penalty of fifty pounds.

(2) Any officer of the Commissioners authorised by them for the purpose may enter any place of entertainment while the entertainment is proceeding, and any place ordinarily used as a place of entertainment at any reasonable times, with a view to seeing whether the provisions of this Act or any regulations made thereunder as to entertainments duty are being complied with.

If any person prevents or obstructs the entry of any officer so authorised he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

(3) The provisions (including the penal provisions) of the Stamp Duties Management Act, 1891, as amended by any subsequent Act, and section sixty-five of the Post Office Act, 1908, shall apply to the stamps used for denoting entertainments duty.

(4) The Commissioners may, if they think fit, by agreement in writing with any local authority, or police authority, arrange for the exercise by that authority, either concurrently with the Commissioners or to the exclusion of the Commissioners of any powers of the Commissioners with respect to entertainments and entertainments duty; and, so far as required for the purpose of giving effect to any such arrangement, the provisions of this Act and any regulations made thereunder with respect to entertainments and entertainments duty shall have effect as if the local authority or police authority and any officer authorised by that authority were mentioned therein in addition to, or substituted for, the Commissioners and an officer of the Commissioners.

Any arrangement under this provision may provide for the payment out of moneys provided by Parliament of any expenses incurred by the local authority or police authority in carrying out the arrangement.

The expression “local authority” means, for the purposes of this provision as respects the Administrative County of London, the London County Council (except that in the City of London the Common Council shall be the local authority for all purposes except cinematograph or theatrical entertainments); as respects any borough, the council of the borough; as respects any urban district with a population of over ten thousand, the district council; and as respects any administrative county (excluding the area of any such borough or urban district), the county council:

Provided that where the council of any such borough (not being a county borough) or of any such urban district agree in writing with the council of the administrative county that the borough or urban district should be included in the area of the administrative county for the purposes of this provision, the borough or urban district shall be so included.

In the application of this provision to Scotland the expression “borough” means a Royal, Parliamentary, or Police Burgh; the expression “administrative county” means a county; and references to county boroughs and urban districts shall not apply.

Duties on matches.

3.—(1) There shall, as from the fifty day of April nineteen hundred and sixteen, be charged, levied and paid on matches imported into Great Britain or Ireland a duty of Customs at the rate of three shillings and sixpence for every ten thousand matches so imported.

(2) There shall as from the fifth day of April nineteen hundred and sixteen, be charged, levied and paid on matches made in Great Britain or Ireland an Excise duty at the rate of three shillings and fourpence for every ten thousand matches so made, and so in proportion for any less quantity, and on a licenecs to be taken out annually by a manufacturer of matches an Excise duty of one pound:

Provided that matches which are proved to the Commissioners to have made before the fifth day of April nineteen hundred and sixteen, shall not be liable to the Excise duty under this provision.

(3) Where the Commissioners are satisfied that a box of matches contains more than eighty matches, the Customs and Excise duty to be charged on any matches so contained exceeding eighty shall be at the rate of one shilling and ninepence and one shilling and eightpence respectively for every ten thousand matches, instead of three shillings and sixpence and three shillings and fourpence.

(4) The Commissioners may make regulations prohibiting the manufacture of matches except by persons holding a licence and having made entry for the purpose, and for fixing the date of expiration of the licence, and also for regulating the manufacture of matches and the removal from the manufactory of matches with a view to securing and collecting the Excise duty imposed by this Act, and may by those regulations apply to the Excise duty on matches and to manufacturers of matches any enactments relating to any duty of Excise or Customs and to persons carrying on any trade subject to the laws of Excise, and may provide for giving the necessary drawbacks and allowances in respect of matches to be exported or used for ships’ stores and for securing, in the case of imported matches, a notification on each box of the contents or minimum or maximum contents of the box.

If any person acts in contravention of, or fails to comply with, any of those regulations, the article in respect of which the offence is committed shall be forfeited and the person committing the offence shall be liable in respect of each offence to an Excise penalty, or in the case of offences in connection with imported matches to a Customs penalty, of fifty pounds.

(4) For the purposes of the duties under this section, a match which has more than one pount of ignition shall be reckoned as so many matches as there are points of ignition.

Duties on table waters.

4.—(1) There shall as from the first day of May nineteen hundred and sixteen be charged, levied and paid upon all table waters as defined by this section, which are sold or kept for sale in Great Britain or Ireland, the following duties of Excise (in this Act referred to as “table-water duties”); namely:—

On table waters which contain as the result of the ordinary process of manufacture, or are prepared in the ordinary process of manufacture with, sugar or other sweetening material, or which are fermented beverages, a duty at the rate of fourpence per gallon; and

On other table waters, a duty at the rate of eightpence per gallon:

(2) “Table waters,” for the purposes of this Act, includes any aerated waters and any beverages sold or kept for sale in bottles, other than—

(a) Any liquor for the retail sale of which an Excise licence is required; and

(b) Syrups or other liquors intended to be consumed only in a diluted form.

Duty on cider.

5. There shall as from the first day of May nineteen hundred and sixteen be charged, levied and paid on all cider or perry which is sold or kept for sale in Great Britain or Ireland a duty of Excise (in this Act referred to as “cider duty”) at the rate of fourpence per gallon.

Supplemental provisions as to table-water and cider duties.

6.—(1) The Commissioners may make regulations for securing the payment of table-water and cider duties, and generally for carrying into effect the provisions of this Act as to table-water and cider duties, and in particular for requiring and verifying particulars of output, stocks, and sales, and for the registration or licensing of persons by whom, and premises at which, table waters or cider liable to duty are made or sold, and for the charge of a duty on the licence in the case of persons using a machine or mechanical contrivance for making aerated water of any description; and the Commissioners may by those regulations provide for any exemption required for the purpose of facilitating the bottling and rebottling of any table waters or cider, or the sale of any table waters or cider to dealers or for farm consumption, or for the purpose of relieving from duty any table waters or cider intended for exportation or ships’ stores.

If any person acts in contravention of or fails to comply with any such regulation, the article in respect of which the offence is committed shall be forfeited, and the person committing the offence shall be liable in respect of each offence to an Excise penalty of fifty pounds.

(2) Any officers of the Commissioners authorised by them for the purpose may at any reasonable times enter any premises or place in which any table waters or cider liable to duty are made, prepared, sold, or kept for sale with a view to seeing whether the provisions of this Act as to table-water and cider duties, or any regulations made in pursuance of those provisions, are being complied with.

If any person prevents or obstructs the entry of any officer so appointed he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

(3) The provisions of this Act as to table-water and cider duties shall be construed as if any reference to bottles included a reference to casks or other corked or closed receptacles, and shall apply to the supply of table waters and cider in a club or by a club to the members thereof as they apply to the sale of table waters and cider.

Regulations to be laid before Parliament.

7. Any regulation made under this Act shall be laid before each House of Parliament forthwith, and, if an address is presented to His Majesty by either House of Parliament within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat next after any such regulation is laid before it praying that the regulation may be annulled, His Majesty in Council may annul the regulation, and it shall thenceforth be void, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Construction and short title.

8.—(1) This Act, so far as it relates to duties of Customs, shall be construed together with the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876, and any enactments amending that Act; and, so far as it relates to duties of Excise, shall be construed together with the Acts which relate to the duties of Excise and the management of those duties.

(2) In this Act the expression “Commissioners” means the Commissioners of Customs and Excise.

(3) This Act may be cited as the Finance (New Duties) Act, 1916.