 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Exchequer" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
.jpg)
In thecivil service of theUnited Kingdom,His Majesty's Exchequer,[1] or just theExchequer, is theaccounting process of central government and the government'scurrent account (i.e., money held fromtaxation and other governmentrevenues) in theConsolidated Fund.[2] The term is used in various financial documents, including the latest departmental and agency annual accounts.[3][4][5][6]
Historically, it was the name of aBritish government department[7] responsible for the collection and the management of taxes and revenues, making payments on behalf of the sovereign, and auditing official accounts. It also developed a judicial role along with itsaccountancy responsibilities and tried legal cases relating to revenue.[8]
Although the Exchequer was the official way of receiving tax revenue for his/her majesty's government, by the late fifteenth century,[9] there was never a way of knowing how much one had at a given time. Any report would take years to come to fruition.
Similar offices were created inNormandy around 1180, inScotland around 1200 and inIreland in 1210.[10]
The Exchequer was named after a table used to perform calculations for taxes and goods in the medieval period.[11] According to theDialogus de Scaccario ('Dialogue concerning the Exchequer'),[12] an earlymedieval work describing the practice of the Exchequer, the table was large, 10 feet by 5 feet with a raised edge or "lip" on all sides of about the height of four fingers to ensure that nothing fell off it, upon whichcounters were placed representing various values. The name Exchequer referred to the resemblance of the table to achess board (French:échiquier) as it was covered by a black cloth bearing green stripes of about the breadth of a human hand in achequer-pattern. The spaces represented pounds, shillings and pence.[12] This was necessary because many sheriffs, who were responsible for collecting and submitting taxes, were unable to read or write.[13]
The termExchequer then came to refer to the twice-yearly meetings held atEaster andMichaelmas, at which government financial business was transacted and an audit held ofsheriffs' returns.
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(August 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The operation of an exchequer in Normandy is documented as early as 1180. This exchequer had broader jurisdiction than the English exchequer, dealing in both fiscal and administrative matters. TheDialogue concerning the Exchequer presents it as a general belief that the Norman kings established the Exchequer in England on the loose model of the Norman exchequer, while noting with some doubt an alternative view that the Exchequer existed in Anglo-Saxon times. The specific chronology of the two exchequers' founding's remains unknown.
It is unknown exactly when the Exchequer was established, but the earliest mention appears in a royal writ of 1110 during the reign of KingHenry I.[14] The oldest survivingPipe Roll is that of 1130 (already in mature form, indicating that such records existed for some time beforehand, though they do not survive).[15]: p.159 [16] In the 1490s around 90 percent of the King[17] revenue was received by the Exchequer. Pipe Rolls form a mostly continuous record of royal revenues and taxation; however, not all revenue went into the Exchequer, and some taxes and levies were never recorded in the Pipe Rolls.[18]: p.219
Under Henry I, a procedure adopted for theaudit involved thetreasurer drawing up asummons to be sent to eachsheriff, who was required to answer with an account of the income in hisshire both from royaldemesne lands and from the countyfarm (a form of local taxation). Thechancellor of the Exchequer then questioned him concerning debts owed by private individuals.[19]: 73–74
By 1176, the 23rd year of the reign ofHenry II which is the date of theDialogue concerning the Exchequer,[12][20] the Exchequer was split into two components: the purely administrativeExchequer of Receipt, which collected revenue, and theExchequer of Pleas, a law court concerned with the King's revenue. Appeals were to theCourt of Exchequer Chamber. Following the proclamation ofMagna Carta, legislation was enacted whereby the Exchequer would maintain the realm'sprototypes for theyard andpound. These nominal standards were, however, only infrequently enforced on the localities around the kingdom.
From the late 1190s to theexpulsion of the Jews in 1290, there was a separate division for taxation ofJews and the law-cases arising between Jews and Christians, calledExchequer of the Jews (Latin:Scaccarium Judaeorum).[21][22]
Through most of the 1600s, goldsmiths would deposit their reserve of treasure with the Exchequer, sanctioned by the government.Charles II "shut up" the Exchequer in 1672, forbidding payments from it, in whatWalter Bagehot described as "one of those monstrous frauds... this monstrous robbery". This ruined the goldsmiths and the credit of the Stuart government, which would never recover it. In 1694, the credit ofWilliam III's government was so bad in London that it could not borrow, which led to the foundation of the Governor and Company of theBank of England.[23]
The records of the Exchequer were kept in thePell Office, adjacent toWestminster Hall, until the 19th century. The office was named after the skins (then "pells" or pelts) from which the rolls were made.[24]
In the 19th century, a number of reforms reduced the role of the Exchequer, with some functions moved to other departments. The Exchequer became unnecessary as a revenue collecting department in 1834 with the reforms of Prime MinisterWilliam Pitt, who also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer. The government departments collecting revenue then paid it directly to theBank of England, with all money previously paid to the Exchequer being credited to theConsolidated Fund.[25]
In 1866, theStandards Department of theBoard of Trade took over metrological responsibilities[26] and audit functions were combined with those of theCommissioners for auditing the Public Accounts under the new post ofComptroller and Auditor General.[27] The name continued as theExchequer and Audit Department from 1866 until 1983 when the newNational Audit Office was created.[28][29]
In modern times, "Exchequer" has come to mean theTreasury and, colloquially,pecuniary possessions in general; as in "the company's exchequer is low".[citation needed]
The Scottish Exchequer dates to around 1200, with a similar role inauditing and royalrevenues as in England. The Scottish Exchequer was slower to develop a separate judicial role; and it was not until 1584 that it became a court of law, separate from the king's council. Even then, the judicial and the administrative roles were never completely separated as with the English Exchequer.
In 1707, theExchequer Court (Scotland) Act 1707 (6 Ann. c. 53) reconstituted the Exchequer into a law court on the English model, with a lord chief baron and four barons.[30] The court adopted English forms of procedure and had further powers added. This was done in Section 19 of theAct of Union 1707[31]
From 1832, no new barons were appointed; their role was increasingly assumed by judges of theCourt of Session. By theExchequer Court (Scotland) Act 1856 (19 & 20 Vict. c. 56), the Exchequer became a part of the Court of Session. Alord ordinary acts as a judge in Exchequer causes.[32] The English forms of process ceased to be used in 1947.
TheExchequer of Ireland developed in 1210 when KingJohn of England reorganised the governance of hisLordship of Ireland and brought it more in line with English law.[10] It consisted of theSuperior Exchequer, acourt of equity and revenue akin to the Exchequer of Pleas, and theInferior Exchequer.[10] The latter were the treasurers who handled all logistics from collecting the money (Teller or Cashier), logging it (Clerk of the Pells) and signing money orders accepting or paying money.[33][34] It was managed by its ownChancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland andChief Baron of the Irish Exchequer.
TheCourt of Exchequer (Ireland) existed from about 1299 to 1877. It was abolished under theSupreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877 and was merged, along with theCourt of King's Bench (Ireland), theCourt of Chancery (Ireland) and theCourt of Common Pleas (Ireland), into the newHigh Court of Justice in Ireland (now replaced by theHigh Court).[10]
TheCentral Fund, the Republic of Ireland's equivalent of the UK's Consolidated Fund, is colloquially called the Exchequer when distinguished as a component ofgovernment funding.[35]
Charles II. shut up the 'Exchequer,' would pay no one, and so the 'goldsmiths' were ruined. The credit of the Stuart Government never recovered from this monstrous robbery.
Act of Union 1707 at Wikisource.