‘On the Policy Of Direct or Indirect Taxation’

Abstract

One of the principal arguments in favour of indirect taxation has been, that it enables government to encourage the consumption of some articles and check the consumption of others. Indirect or circuitous taxation has no sound principle on which it can rest, and if it is to be justified at all, it must be justified by some arguments of convenience or expediency. “The requisites of a good system of taxes are — equality; certainty; that they should be levied at a convenient time; that they should be productive, that is, that they should not take more out of the pocket of the subject than goes into the pockets of the state.” The Irish stamp duties in 1846 amounted to £594,000, and of this £379,000 were for duties imposed in law proceedings. The stamp duty on deeds alone was £161,000, while the Law Fund, Exchequer Fund, and Chancery Fund amounted to £50,000—an enormous tax upon suitors.