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 Final logo | |
| Non-ministerial government department overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1849 (1849) |
| Preceding agencies | |
| Dissolved | 18 April 2005 (2005-04-18) |
| SupersedingNon-ministerial government department | |
| Jurisdiction | United Kingdom |
| Headquarters | Somerset House London,WC2 |
TheInland Revenue was, until April 2005, adepartment of theBritish Government responsible for the collection ofdirect taxation, includingincome tax,national insurance contributions,capital gains tax,inheritance tax,corporation tax,petroleum revenue tax andstamp duty. More recently, the Inland Revenue also administered the Tax Credits schemes,[1] whereby monies, such asWorking Tax Credit (WTC) andChild Tax Credit (CTC), are paid by the government into a recipient's bank account or as part of their wages. The Inland Revenue was also responsible for the payment ofchild benefit (from 1999).
The Inland Revenue was merged withHM Customs and Excise to formHM Revenue and Customs which came into existence on 18 April 2005.[2] The current name was promoted by the use of the expression "from Revenue and Customs" in a series of annual radio, and to a lesser extent, television public information broadcasts in the 2000s and 2010s.
The beginnings of the Inland Revenue date from 1665, when aBoard of Taxes was set up following the introduction of special taxes to pay for theSecond Anglo-Dutch War. A central organisation to supervise the collection of the special taxes was required; it became known as theTax Office.[3]
Taxes administered by the Board of Taxes included theLand Tax, first levied in 1692, along with thewindow tax andhouse tax, both of which dated from 1696. In 1785 a number of other miscellaneous taxes, administered by the Stamp Office and the Excise Office, were transferred to the Tax Office; these included taxes on carriages (dating from 1747), on wagons and carts, on male servants (1777) and on horses (1784).[4] Together with the House Tax and the Window Tax, they came to be known as the 'assessed taxes' and were intended as aprogressive form of taxation on the wealthy.[5]
Income tax was introduced in various forms in 1797, 1799, 1803 to 1816, and then reintroduced in 1842 as an annual tax which is formally renewed in each year'sFinance Act.
A separateBoard of Stamps was created by theStamps Act 1694. During the 18th and early 19th centuries at various times (as financial strains on the economy demanded, and Parliament allowed)stamp duties were extended above a certain threshold of sale value to cover newspapers,pamphlets, lottery tickets,apprentices'indentures, advertisements, playing cards, dice, hats, gloves,patent medicines, perfumes, insurance policies, gold and silverplate andarmorial bearings (coats of arms). One further category is the most widely cited example of an unpopular and most difficult to enforce tax, theDuty on Hair Powder Act 1795. The last stamp taxes to remain arestamp duty land tax andstamp duty reserve tax; however the use of physical stamps has ceased.
In June 1833, following a steady reduction in the number of different taxes and duties being levied, a single body of commissioners was set up to merge the revenues of stamps and taxes. The Board of Taxes and the Board of Stamps were formally combined under theLand Tax Act 1834 to form theBoard of Stamps and Taxes.
TheBoard of Inland Revenue was created under theInland Revenue Board Act 1849, after the Board of Excise and the Board of Stamps and Taxes were amalgamated. Responsibility forexcise duties was transferred to the Board ofCustoms and Excise in 1909.
In 1995, to help promote self-assessmenttax returns, Inland Revenue created the character ofHector the Tax Inspector to help in their advertising campaign.
The2004 Budget included proposals to merge HM Customs and Excise with the Board of Inland Revenue to form a new department,HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The merger was implemented by theCommissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 with effect from 18 April 2005.
The following taxes were administered at various times either by the Inland Revenue or by its predecessors (excise duties are not included):[6][7]
The Inland Revenue also receivedNational Insurance contributions and administeredchild benefit payments andTax Credits.
The leadership and taking of the highest level of decisions is ministerial as the concept of any particular tax and the degree of success in collecting any particular tax rests ultimately with the political decisions taken. Of particular relevance are the debates inParliament in their imposition.
The Permanent Secretary to the Treasury has the main advisory, policy informative role to play in the enabling of the department's functions, in liaison with board chairman who bore overall responsibility along with the rest of the board for the operational carrying out of the Inland Revenue's functions.
As sub-departments (typically, Offices, Boards and Bureaus) have issued their own taxes or expanded their remit, they too have seen Comptrollers General and Chairmen. An example was Robert Wilkie Stanton, Comptroller of Stamps and Taxes (Scotland), Board of Inland Revenue.
In 2001, the Inland Revenue entered into aPrivate Finance Initiative within the framework of the STEPS-contract (Strategic Transfer of the Estate to the Private Sector) whereby it sold two-thirds of its estate toMapeley for £370 million and then leased the properties back.[10]