Statistics of Land Tax

Amount of Land Tax charged, per Act 38 Geo. III. cap 5 (1798) :—England, £1,989,673; Scotland, £17,954. Total for Great Britain, £2,037,627.

	Amount of Land Tax Redeemed under Act 42 Geo. III. cap. 116, and subsequent Acts.			Amount of Land Tax Redeemed by the Application of Surplus under Act 24 and 25 Vic. cap. 91.			Total Amount of Land Tax Redeemed.
	England.	Scotland.	Great Britain.	England.	Scotland.	Great Britain.	England.	Scotland.	Great Britain.
Year.	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
1798 to 1863	770,132	13,024	783,156	1,238		1,238	771,370	13,024	784,394
1864	2,723		2,723	246		246	2,969		2,969
1865	2,765	8	2,773	635		635	3,400	8	3,408
1866	5,608	1	5,609	401		401	6,009	1	6,010
1867	3,292	13	3,305	311		311	3,603	13	3,616
1868	1,623	8	1,631	403	17	420	2,026	25	2,051
1869	2,218		2,218	430	18	448	2,648	18	2,666
1870	2,279	1	2,280	488	13	501	2,767	14	2,781
1871	3,567	12	3,579	560	9	569	4,127	21	4,148
1872	2,786	1	2,787	616	13	629	3,402	14	3,416
1873	2,639	22	2,661	657	58	715	3,296	80	3,376
1874	3,384	3	3,387	785	48	833	4,169	51	4,220
1875	3,141	1	3,142	177	53	230	3,318	54	3,372
1876	2,620	2	2,622	346	54	400	2,966	56	3,022
1877	3,012		3,012	555	2	557	3,567	2	3,569
1878	3,635	5	3,640	302	24	326	3,937	29	3,966
1879	2,700		2,700	1,062	48	1,110	3,762	48	3,810
1880	2,570		2,570	529	36	565	3,099	36	3,135
1881	1,987		1,987	281	54	335	2,268	54	2,322
1882	2,374		2,374	494	42	536	2,868	42	2,910
1883	3,804		3,804	451	50	501	4,255	50	4,305
1884 In this year 1,628 contracts were entered into, for a total of									3,013
1885 In this year 1,433 contracts were entered into, for a total of									2,720
Total amount extinguished (for about £30,500,000). See note foot of p. 182.									£859,199

page 182

	Amount of Net Quotas of Land Tax Payable to the Revenue.			Amount of Excess of Assessment beyond the Net Quotas.			Excess of Assessment Awarded to Assessors and retained by Collectors.	Amount of Excess applied in Payment of Preparation of Valuation Rolls, &c.
Year.	England.	Scotland.	Great Britain.	England.	Scotland.	Great Britain.	England.	Scotland.
	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
1864	1,092,528	34,971	1,127,499	28,665	551	29,216	11,833	427
1865	1,086,950	34,966	1,121,916	30,578	723	31,301	12,196	584
1866	1,082,410	34,963	1,117,373	31,236	852	32,088	12,705	543
1867	1,080,090	34,955	1,115,045	32,548	943	33,491	13,090	467
1868	1,076,444	34,925	1,111,369	37,246	870	38,116	13,490	519
1869	1,073,159	34,906	1,108,065	33,265	671	33,936	13,723	455
1870	1,070,440	34,892	2,105,332	33,671	1,025	34,696	14,446	594
1871	1,067,080	34,871	1,101,951	36,504	1,408	37,912	14,893	515
1872	1,063,333	34,857	1,098,190	36,213	1,812	38,025	15,250	512
1873	1,059,521	34,793	1,094,314	37,440	1,644	39,084	16,183	532
1874	1,055,873	34,726	1,090,599	36,471	2,912	39,383	16,454	564
1875	1,052,253	34,684	1,086,937	39,523	2,485	42,008	17,702	506
1876	1,047,243	34,582	1,081,825	40,155	1,524	41,679	18,729	581
1877	1,045,088	34,580	1,079,668	38,546	1,804	40,350	19,584	570
1878	1,040,779	34,551	1,075,330	39,275	1,913	41,188	20,415	491
1879	1,036,906	34,503	1,071,409	38,235	2,062	40,297	20,817	584
1880	1,034,324	34,466	1,068,790	38,365	2,236	40,601	21,226	610
1881	1,031,729	34,412	1,066,141	40,198	2,291	42,489	21,690	609
1882	1,029,506	34,370	1,063,876	40,878	2,328	43,206	22,572	612
1883	1,026,204	34,320	1,060,524	39,804	2,300	42,104	25,050	594
1885	1,022,355	34,275	1,056,630	40,923	2,452	43,375	23,673

Comparison of the Land Tax as it is and as it would have been according to the Act of 1692.

England.	Parts or Quotas apportioned to.	Proportionate Quotas in 1877-8.	Amount Assessed to Schedule A in 1880-81 (inclusive of Canals, Mines Railways, &c.)	What 4s. in the pound on such Assessment would be
		£	£	£
Bedfordshire	7	14,639	881,978	176,396
Berks	10	20,941	1,434,902	286,980
Bucks	12	25,159	1,239,470	247,894
Cambridgeshire	9	18,847	1,529,279	305,856
Cheshire	7	14,659	3,434,969	686,994
Cornwall	8	16,753	1,459,684	291,937
Cumberland	1	2,094	1,412,559	282,512
Derbyshire	6	12,565	2,177,002	435,400
Devon	21	43,917	3,613,126	722,625
Dorset	9	18,847	1,283,715	256,743
Durham	3	6,282	2,999,381	599,876
Essex	21	50,260	3,471,470	694,294
Gloucestershire	12	25,130	3,057,514	611,503
Hants	14	29,318	3,188,589	637,718
Herefordshire	5	10,471	1,067,988	213,599
Herts	11	23,036	1,304,155	260,831
Hunts	4	8,376	506,581	101,316
Kent	22	40,271	6,155,564	1,231,113
Lancashire	5	10,471	17,905,032	3,531,006
Leicestershire	9	18,817	2,035,060	407,012
Lincolnshire	19	39,789	4,138,496	827,699
Middlesex	80	167,534	24,825,326	4,965,065
Monmouthshire	3	6,282	857,772	171,554
Norfolk	22	46,271	3,090,508	618,101
Northamptonshire	12	25,129	1,801,824	360,365
Northumberland	4	8,376	2,530,839	506,168
Notts	7	14,659	2,080,083	416,016
Oxfordshire	10	20,941	1,351,526	270,305
Rutland	2	4,188	208,587	41,717
Salop	7	14,659	1,743,254	348,651
Somerset	19	39,789	3,723,008	744,601
Staffordshire	7	14,659	4,123,261	825,652
Suffolk	20	41,883	2,321,899	464,380
Surrey	18	37,695	8,549,234	1,709,847
Sussex	9	18,847	3,613,740	722,784
Warwickshire	10	20,941	4,069,886	813,977
Westmoreland	1	2,094	522,696	101,539
Wilts	13	27,223	1,819,479	363,896
Worcester	9	18,847	2,048,276	409,655
Yorkshire	24	50,260	15,193,254	3,038,651
Totals	495	£1,036,919	£148,775,966 £	29,755,192
Wales	11	£23,034	£5,935,444	£1,187,086
Scotland	7	£14,659	£19,596,694	£3,919,339
Great Britain	513	£1,074,612	£174,308,104	£34,861,617
Difference		33,787,005
		£34,861,617

Hence it appears that on the assessments of 1877-8, and on the produce of the Land Tax under Schedule A in 1881, in only one instance, that of Middlesex, did the quotas of the several counties of Great Britain reach more than 1s. in the £, all the rest being under 6d. Several were below a 1d., and some less than a farthing in the £. Thus, Cumberland and Lancashire figure for less than a halfpenny; Yorkshire was only good for threehalfpence, Scotland for 3/16 ths of a penny, and the general average for Great Britain was only a penny and three farthings. This is a pretty account to give of a Tax which is called by Act of Parliament one of 4s. in the £ on the full annual value, even though the valuation be only that of 1692. But this is not all. The assessments in question were exclusive of Mines, Quarries, Ironworks, and other descriptions of real property which were declared subject to the Tax by the Act of 1798, and which were transferred from Schedule A to Schedule D in 1866. From the 33rd number of the Statistical Abstract we learn that the gross annual value of property, exclusive of Canals, Gasworks, Ironworks, Mines, Quarries, Railways, and other Profits, &c., in Great Britain, assessed under Schedule A, in 1885, was £180,906,830, a real 4s. in the £ on which would yield £36,181,366 instead of £1,023,196, the paltry produce of its phantom namesake in 1886. Finally—these two facts seem worthy of consideration : in fourteen years of the reign of William III. the whole public income from all sources, including £51,946,621 2s. 8d. raised by creation of debt, was £107,437,540, to which the Land Tax contributed £20,776,865, i.e., more than a fifth part of the total amount, loans included; whereas in 1885-6 the public income from taxes and ordinary receipts amounted to £89,581.301, towards which the Land Tax yielded £1,023,196 only, which was not quite an eighty-seventh part of the total ordinary income, exclusive of money raised by the creation of debt.

The total amount of capital stock cancelled for redemption of Lund Tax was £28,905,641 up to 1869, with an annual saving of dividend of £867,166: since then the stock cancelled has amounted to about £1,300,000, with an annual saving of £40,000, and; further stock has been cancelled by the application of surplus land tax amounting to £250,000 with an annual saving of £7,500. j No Land Tax is levied in Ireland.

A person who wishes to redeem his Land Tax must apply to the clerk to the Land Tax Commissioners for the division in which the property is situated for a certificate of the amount to be redeemed. The clerk thereupon certifies the assessment, and attests the declaration of the redemptioner. The certificate and declaration are then sent to the Registrar of Land Tax at the Inland Revenue Office, in order that a contract for redemption may be made. Notice is then given of the amount of consideration money payable, and of the time and place of payment.