Excise

This term is commonly applied to a tax or duty on home-made articles; and, like the impost, is paid by the consumer of the articles, who, in purchasing them, pays the tax. It is occasionally extended to a great variety of articles, but in this country has commonly been confined to the distiller of spirits, which are taxed partly because their consumption is regarded as unfavorable both to the health and the morals of the people, and partly because, on account of the prevalent popular taste for them, the tax is very productive.

The objection to this class of taxes is, that to insure its faithful collection, many officers are necessary, with a course of inquisition which is vexatious and repugnant to the feelings of a free people. The first excise laid in the United States caused an insurrection in the western part of Pennsylvania - the people there regarding it as peculiarly oppressive and unjust, since whiskey was the only product of their industry which would then bear the expense of transportation to market, by reason of which the tax fell more heavily on their industry than on any other in the Union. The objection would have been well founded, but for the fact that the tax on spirits, though advanced by the manufacturer, would eventually fall on the consumer. The same tax has been subsequently laid, and has not been unacceptable to the distillers of spirits.

Stamp Taxes

This is a tax which is levied on such papers and documents as are of frequent use in the business transactions of men, as deeds, bonds, agreements, receipts, etc.; and to enforce the payment of the tax, all such papers are not permitted to be used as evidence in a court of justice, and are thus deprived of the principal benefit for which they had been created. One objection to this class of taxes is that they operate very unequally - it not being always practicable to graduate the tax according to the value or importance of the subject matter of the stamped paper, so that a paper concerning a value of §100 may pay as much as $10,000. But a more serious objection to such taxes in this country is that they are often not merely a tax on the purse, but a much heavier one on the time of the citizen. In retired country places, a man, instead of writing a bond or receipt on the first piece of paper that is at hand, may be compelled to go or send ten or twelve miles for a stamp.

Taxes On Banks

As these corporations are invested with the valuable privilege of substituting their paper for specie, from which the citizens are generally interdicted, and as, moreover, there is always danger that they may bring on the community the evil of a depreciated currency, it is just and right that they should contribute toward defraying the expenses of the Government. They may do this by paying a bonus for their charter, or by an annual tax on their dividends; and sometimes a tax has been laid on their loans, which, however, always falls on their borrowers.

Taxes On Auctions

This tax seems to be recommended partly because it is not easily evaded, since the auctioneers are commonly responsible for the tax, and partly by way of discouragement, as many are induced to purchase at auction what they do not need, and what they would not otherwise have bought.