On the new Stamp Tax Law the British Chamber "of Commerce Journal has thoughtful comment. to which, it is hoped, the responsible authorities will give serious attention. The new law was made effective as from September 1 and the Charaber's Organ finds that, although the form Of taxation in question is "probably Jone of the least objectionable," the terms on which it is being applied have certain defects, The classifica tions cover too great a variety of documents, in certain cases the tax is excessive and in others discrimina. tory. In particular it is. shown that the exemption of Government ent prises unfairly handicaps private business, The tax is small but when it ts applied to Bills of Lading for Coast or river steamers where. the freight charge may be nothing more than a dollar i constitutes too high percentage of the value of the transaction to impose a stamp duly of 20 cents, however negligible tat Amure might be in relation to ocean freight. The Chamber. evidently considers that the Law as it stands quite impracticable in regard to the variety of documents selected for taxation. "A simple transaction in. volving an Order, a Rill of Lading, Godown Receipt, a Receipt for De Hivery, an Invoice, a Cheque and a Receipt would require the stamping Jof not less than seven documents, and this on the top of the Tax on insurance and the Tax on books. No doubt these difficulties which sharply appear now that the Law is moving into practice will be carefully studied by ts framers: The Journal's comments appear in full elsewhere and wi be seen that even the Government' own departments are. nol clear on the exact intentions of the Law. The problem is not unusual and frequently arises when a new form of taxation is being attempted, Therefore, the timely and constructive criticism from 0 exper-fenced a source may be expected to bear fruit
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.