Finance Act 1901

PART ICustoms and Excise

1Duty on tea.

The duty of customs now payable on tea shall continue to be charged, levied, and paid until the first day of August nineteen hundred and two, on the importation thereof into Great Britain or Ireland ; that is to say—

• Tea, the pound, sixpence.

2Sugar duty.

(1)There shall as from the nineteenth day of April nineteen hundred and one, be charged, levied, and paid on the following articles imported into Great Britain or Ireland, the following duties—

and there shall, as from the first day of June nineteen hundred and one, be allowed in respect of those articles, the drawbacks set out in the Second Schedule to this Act.

Provided that, as from the nineteenth day of April up to the eleventh day of June nineteen hundred and one the duties under the headings molasses and glucose shall be deemed to have been chargeable at the rates specified in the resolution of the Committee of Ways and Means of the eighteenth day of April nineteen hundred and one; but where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioners of Customs that the duty paid on any molasses imported during that period exceeds that which would have been paid after the said eleventh day of June, and that the excess has not been recovered from any person to whom the molasses may have been delivered after importation, the Commissioners of Customs may remit the excess.

(2)The words " (except in sugar)" in the schedule to the [39 & 40 Vict. c. 35.] Customs Tariff Act, 1876, are hereby repealed, but tinned and bottled apricots in syrup or water, and apricot pulp, shall not be liable to duty as preserved plums.

3Export duty on coal.

(1)There shall, as from the nineteenth day of April nineteen hundred and one, be charged, levied, and paid on coal exported from Great Britain or Ireland a duty of one shilling per ton, but a rebate of the duty shall be allowed on any coal the value of which free on board is proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioners of Customs not to exceed six shillings per ton.

(2)The Treasury may, if they think fit, in any case remit the duty on any coal exported before the first day of January nineteen hundred and two, in pursuance of a contract made before the nineteenth day of April nineteen hundred and one.

(3)Coal may be shipped on any ship, duty free, in like manner as, and subject to terms and conditions similar to those on which, stores are allowed to be shipped under the Customs Acts.

(4)The provisions set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Act, and the modifications of the Customs Acts set out in the same schedule, shall have effect with respect to the exportation of coal and the duty thereon.

(5)For the purposes of this Act " coal" includes culm, coke, and cinders.

(6)In any case where the person paying the duty shall be the tenant of the mines from which the coal shall have been produced, subject to the payment of a rent or ro3'alty, varying with the selling price of such coal, and the coal shall have been sold at a price inclusive of the duty, then the amount of such duty so paid shall in the absence of any agreement to the contrary be deducted in ascertaining the amount of such selling price for the purpose of determining the amount of the said rent or royalty.

4Continuance of additional customs duties and drawbacks on tobacco, beer, and spirits.

The additional duties of customs on tobacco, beer, and spirits imposed by sections two, three, four, and five of the [63 & 64 Vict. c. 7.] Finance Act, 1900 (including the increased duties imposed by section five of that Act), shall continue to be charged, levied, and paid until the first day of August nineteen hundred, and two, and as regards the period for which any additional drawbacks are allowed under those sections nineteen hundred and two shall be substituted for nineteen hundred and one.

5Excise duty on glucose, &c.

(1)There shall, as from the eleventh day of June nineteen hundred and one as regards the duty on glucose, and as regards the other duties under this section as from the first day of July nineteen hundred and one, be charged, levied, and paid the following duties of excise—

and there shall be allowed in respect of glucose and saccharin the drawbacks set out in the Third Schedule to this Act,

(2)The duty on glucose may be charged either on the quantity actually manufactured or by reference to the quantity ascertained by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue to be capable of being produced from the saccharin solution collected in a receiver to be provided by the maker and fixed and secured to the satisfaction of the Commissioners.

6Continuance of additional excise duties and drawbacks on beer and spirits.

The additional duties of excise on beer and spirits imposed by sections six and seven of the [63 & 64 Vict. c. 7.] Finance Act, 1900, shall continue to be charged, levied, and paid until the first day of August nineteen hundred and two, and as regards the period in respect of which any additional drawback is allowed under the said section six, nineteen hundred and two shall be substituted for nineteen hundred and one.

7Provisions as to duty on manufactured articles and time of importation of goods.

(1)Where any manufactured, or prepared goods contain, as a part or ingredient thereof, any article liable to any duty of customs, duty shall be charged in respect of such quantity of the article as shall appear to the satisfaction of the Treasury to be used in the manufacture or preparation of the goods, and in the case of goods so containing more than one such article, shall be charged in a similar manner on each article liable to duty at the rates of duty respectively applicable thereto, unless the Treasury shall be of opinion that it is necessary for the protection of the revenue that duty should be charged in accordance with the [39 & 40 Vict. c. 35.] Customs Tariff Act, 1876.

Any rebate which can be allowed by law on any article when separately charged shall be allowed in charging goods under this section in respect of the quantity of that article used in the manufacture or preparation of the goods.

(2)As respects the first levying or repealing of any duty of customs (including any duty imposed by this Act), the time at which the importation of any goods shall be deemed to have had effect shall be the time at which the entry of the goods under the Customs Act is delivered instead of the time mentioned in section forty of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876.

8Regulations as to saccharin, &c.

The Commissioners of Customs and the Commissioners of Inland Revenue may jointly make regulations as to the delivery of molasses to, and the use of molasses by, a licensed distiller without payment of duty or upon drawback as allowed by this Act, and also as to the importation, labelling, wrapping, and .sale of any saccharin (including substances of a like nature or use) and as to the proof to be required that a label has not been previously used, and may by those regulations apply any of the enactments relating to stamps to the labels to be used, and if any person imports or makes any such saccharin or delivers or uses molasses without complying with those regulations, or sells, exposes for sale, or offers, or keeps for sale any such saccharin in respect of which those regulations have not been complied with, the saccharin or molasses, as the case may be, shall be forfeited, and that person shall be liable in respect of each offence, to an excise penalty of fifty pounds,

9Regulations as to excise duty on glucose, &c.

The Commissioners of Inland Revenue may make regulations prohibiting the manufacture of glucose, saccharin, or invert sugar, except by persons holding a licence and having made entry for the purpose, and for fixing the date of expiration of the licence, and also for regulating the manufacture of glucose with a view to securing and collecting the excise duty imposed by this Act, and may by those regulations apply any enactments relating to the excise duty or drawback on beer, and to brewers of beer, to the excise duty and drawback on glucose, and to manufacturers of glucose, and if any person acts in contravention of, or fails to comply with, any of those regulations, the article in respect of which the offence is committed shall be forfeited, and the person committing the offence shall be liable in respect of each offence to an excise penalty of fifty pounds.

10Addition or deduction of new or altered duties in the case of contract.

(1)Where any new customs import duty or new excise duty is imposed, or where any customs import duty or excise duty is increased, and any goods in respect of which the duty is payable are delivered after the day on which the new or increased duty takes effect in pursuance of a contract made before that day, the seller of the goods may, in the absence of agreement to the contrary, recover, as an addition to the contract price, a sum equal to any amount paid by him in respect of the goods on account of the new duty or the increase of duty, as the case may be.

(2)Where any customs import duty or excise duty is repealed or decreased, and any goods affected by the duty are delivered after the day on which the duty ceases or the decrease in the duty takes effect in pursuance of a contract made before that day, the purchaser of the goods, in the absence of agreement to the contrary, may, if the seller of the goods has had in respect of those goods the benefit of the repeal or decrease of the duty, deduce from the contract price a sum equal to the amount of the duty or decrease of duty, as the case may be.

(3)Where any addition to or deduction from the contract price may be made under this section on account of any new or repealed duty, such sum as may be agreed upon or in default of agreement determined by the Commissioners of Customs in the case of a customs duty, and by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue in the case of an excise duty, as representing in the case of a new duty any new expenses incurred, and in the case of a repealed duty any expenses saved, may be included in the addition to or deduction from the contract price, and may be recovered or deducted accordingly.

(4)This section shall be deemed to have had effect as from the nineteenth day of April nineteen hundred and one, and section twenty of the [39 & 40 Vict. c. 36.] Customs Consolidation Act. 1876, and section eight of the [63 & 64 Vict. c. 7.] Finance Act, 1900, are hereby repealed.