property of all kinds from the dead to the
living, and upon those transferring immoveable
property from the living to the living;
transactions which might easily have been
taxed directly.
The vicesima hereditatum, or the twentieth
penny of inheritances, imposed by Augustus
upon the ancient Romans, was a tax upon
the transference of property from the dead to
the living. Dion Cassius,[63] the author who
writes concerning it the least indistinctly,
says, that it was imposed upon all successions,
legacies and donations, in case of death, except
upon those to the nearest relations, and
to the poor.
Of the same kind is the Dutch tax upon
successions.[64] Collateral successions are taxed
according to the degree of relation, from
five to thirty per cent. upon the whole value
of the succession. Testamentary donations,
or legacies to collaterals, are subject to the
like duties. Those from husband to wife, or
from wife to husband, to the fiftieth penny.
The luctuosa hereditas, the mournful succession
of ascendants to descendants, to the
twentieth penny only. Direct successions,
or those of descendants to ascendants, pay no
tax. The death of a father, to such of his
children as live in the same house with him,
is seldom attended with any increase, and frequently
with a considerable diminution of
revenue; by the loss of his industry, of his
office, or of some life-rent estate, of which he
may have been in possession. That tax
would be cruel and oppressive, which aggravated
their loss, by taking from them any
part of his succession. It may, however,
sometimes be otherwise with those children,
who, in the language of the Roman law, are
said to be emancipated; in that of the Scotch
law, to be foris-familiated; that is, who have
received their portion, have got families of
their own, and are supported by funds separate
and independent of those of their father.
Whatever part of his succession might come
to such children, would be a real addition to
their fortune, and might, therefore, perhaps,
without more inconveniency than what attends
all duties of this kind, be liable to some
tax.
The casualties of the feudal law were taxes
upon the transference of land, both from the
dead to the living, and from the living to the
living. In ancient times, they constituted,
in every part of Europe, one of the principal
branches of the revenue of the crown.
The heir of every immediate vassal of the
crown paid a certain duty, generally a year's
rent, upon receiving the investiture of the
estate. If the heir was a minor, the whole
rents of the estate, during the continuance of
the minority, devolved to the superior, without
any other charge besides the maintenance of
the minor, and the payment of the widow's
dower, when there happened to be a dowage
upon the land. When the minor came to be
of age, another tax, called relief, was still due
to the superior, which generally amounted
likewise to a year's rent. A long minority,
which, in the present times, so frequently disburdens
a great estate of all its incumbrances,
and restores the family to their ancient splendour,
could in those times have no such effect.
The waste, and not the disincumbrance of
the estate, was the common effect of a long
minority.
By a feudal law, the vassal could not alienate
without the consent of his superior, who
generally extorted a fine or composition on
granting it. This fine, which was at first arbitrary,
came, in many countries, to be regulated
at a certain portion of the price of the
land. In some countries, where the greater
part of the other feudal customs have gone
into disuse, this tax upon the alienation of
land still continues to make a very considerable
branch of the revenue of the sovereign.
In the canton of Berne it is so high as a sixth
part of the price of all noble fiefs, and a tenth
part of that of all ignoble ones.[65] In the canton
of Lucern, the tax upon the sale of land is
not universal, and takes place only in certain
districts. But if any person sells his land in
order to remove out of the territory, he pays
ten per cent. upon the whole price of the
sale.[66] Taxes of the same kind, upon the
sale either of all lands, or of lands held by
certain tenures, take place in many other
countries, and make a more or less considerable
branch of the revenue of the sovereign.
Such transactions may be taxed indirectly,
by means either of stamp duties, or of duties
upon registration; and those duties either
may, or may not, be proportioned to the value
of the subject which is transferred.
In Great Britain, the stamp duties are
higher or lower, not so much according to
the value of the property transferred (an
eighteen-penny or half-crown stamp being
sufficient upon a bond for the largest sum of
money), as according to the nature of the
deed. The highest do not exceed six pounds
upon every sheet of paper, or skin of parchment;
and these high duties fall chiefly upon
grants from the crown, and upon certain law
proceedings, without any regard to the value
of the subject. There are, in Great Britain,
no duties on the registration of deeds or writings,
except the fees of the officers who keep
the register; and these are seldom more than
a reasonable recompense for their labour.
The crown derives no revenue from them.