SCHEDULE OF STAMP DUTIES.
Reading edition
Stamp Duties.
Acknowledgment of deeds exempt.
Affidavit 5 cts.
” in suits or legal proceedings exempt.
Agreement or Appraisement, (for each sheet, or piece of
paper on which the same is written) 5 cts.
Assignment or transfer of mortgage, lease, or policy of
insurance, the same duty as the original instrument.
” of patent right 5 cts.
Bank Checks, drafts or orders, &c., at sight or on demand 2 cts.
Bills of Exchange, (Foreign,) drawn in, but payable out
of, the United States, each bill of three
or more, must be stamped.
For every bill of each set, where the sum made
payable does not exceed one hundred
dollars, or the equivalent thereof in
any foreign currency in which such bills
may be expressed, according to the standard
of value fixed by the United States 2 cts.
For every additional hundred dollars, or
fractional part thereof in excess of one
hundred dollars 2 cts.
(Foreign,) drawn in, but made payable out
of, the United States, (if drawn singly or
in duplicate,) pay the same duty as Inland
Bills of Exchange.
[The acceptor or acceptors of any Bill of
Exchange, or order for the payment of
any sum of money drawn, or purporting
to be drawn, in any foreign country, but
payable in the United States, must, before
paying or accepting the same, place
thereon a stamp indicating the duty.]
Bills of Exchange, (Inland,) draft or order, payable
otherwise than at sight or on demand, and
any promissory note, whether payable on
demand or at a time designated, (except
bank notes issued for circulation, and
checks made and intended to be, and
which shall be, forthwith presented for
payment,) for a sum not exceeding one
hundred dollars 5 cts.
For every additional $100, or fractional
part thereof 5 cts.
[The warrant of attorney to confess judgment
on a note or bond is exempt from stamp duty,
if the note or bond is properly stamped.]
Bills of Lading, of vessels for ports of the United States
or British North America exempt.
” or receipt for goods, to any foreign port 10 cts.
Bill of Sale of any vessel, or part thereof, when the
consideration does not exceed five
hundred dollars 50 cts.
” exceeding $500, and not exceeding $1,000 $1 00
” exceeding $1,000, for each $500, or fractional
part thereof 50 cts.
” of personal property, (other than ship or vessel) 5 cts.
Bond, personal, for the payment of money. (See Mortgage.)
” official $1 00
” for indemnifying any person for the payment
of any sum of money, where the money
ultimately recoverable thereupon is $1,000 or less 50 cts.
” Where the money recoverable exceeds
$1,000, for every additional $1,000, or
fractional part thereof 50 cts.
Bonds—County, city, and town bonds, railroad and
other corporation bonds, and scrip, are
subject to stamp duty. (See Mortgage.)
” of any description, other than such as are
required in legal proceedings, and such
as are not otherwise charged in this Schedule 25 cts.
Certificates of deposit in bank, sum not exceeding one
hundred dollars 2 cts.
” of deposit in bank, sum exceeding one
hundred dollars 5 cts.
” of stock in an incorporated company 25 cts.
” general 5 cts.
” of record upon the instrument recorded exempt.
” of record upon the book exempt.
” of weight or measurement of animals, coal,
wood, or other articles, except weighers’
and measurers’ returns exempt.
” of a qualification of a Justice of the Peace,
Commissioner of Deeds, or Notary Public 5 cts.
” of search of records 5 cts.
” that certain papers are on file 5 cts.
” that certain papers can not be found 5 cts.
” of redemption of land sold for taxes 5 cts.
” of birth, marriage and death 5 cts.
” of qualification of school teachers 5 cts.
” of profits of an incorporated company for a
sum not less than $10 and not exceeding $50 10 cts.
” exceeding $50, and not exceeding $1,000 25 cts.
” exceeding $1,000, for every additional
$1,000, or fractional part thereof 25 cts.
” of damage, or otherwise, and all other certificates
or documents issued by any port
warden, marine surveyor, or other person
acting as such 25 cts.
Certified Transcripts of judgments, satisfaction of judgments,
and all papers recorded or on file. 5 cts.
[N. B.—As a general rule, every certificate
which has, or may have, a legal value in
any court of law or equity, will require
a stamp duty of 5 cts.]
Charter party, or letter, memorandum, or other writing
between the captain, owner, or agent of
any ship, vessel, or steamer, and any other
person, relating to the charter of the
same, if the registered tonnage of said
ship, vessel, or steamer does not exceed
one hundred and fifty tons $1 00
” exceeding one hundred and fifty tons, and
not exceeding three hundred tons 3 00
” exceeding three hundred tons, and
not exceeding six hundred tons 5 00
” exceeding six hundred tons 10 00
Check, draft, or order for the payment of any sum of
money exceeding $10, drawn upon any
person other than a bank, banker, or
trust company, at sight or on demand 2 cts.
Contract. (See Agreement.)
” Broker’s 16 cts.
Conveyance, deed, instrument, or writing, whereby lands,
tenements, or other realty sold, shall be
conveyed, the actual value of which does
not exceed $500 50 cts.
” exceeding $500, and not exceeding $1,000 $1 00
” for every additional $500, or fractional part
thereof in excess of $1,000 50 cts.
Endorsement of any negotiable instrument exempt.
Entry of any goods, wares, or merchandise at any custom
house, either for consumption or
warehousing, not exceeding one hundred
dollars in value 25 cts.
” exceeding one hundred dollars, and not exceeding
five hundred dollars in value 50 cts.
” exceeding five hundred dollars in value $1 00
” for the withdrawal of any goods or merchandise
from bonded warehouse 50 cts.
Gaugers’ returns, if for quantity not exceeding 500 gallons, gross exempt.
” exceeding 500 gallons ”
Insurance, (Marine, Inland, and Fire,) where the consideration
paid for the insurance, in
cash, premium notes, or both, does not
exceed $10 10 cts.
(Marine, Inland, and Fire,) exceeding $10,
and not exceeding $50 25 cts.
” (Marine, Inland, and Fire,) exceeding $50, 50 cts.
Insurance, (Life,) when the amount insured does not exceed
$1,000 25 cts.
” (Life,) exceeding $1,000, and not exceeding $5,000 50 cts.
” (Life,) exceeding $5,000 $1 00
” (Life,) limited to injury to persons while traveling exempt.
Lease of lands or tenements, where rent does not exceed
$300 per annum 50 cts.
” exceeding $300, for each additional $200, or
fractional part thereof in excess of $300 50 cts.
” perpetual, subject to a stamp duty as a “conveyance,”
the stamp duty to be measured by resolving the
annual rental into a capital sum.
” clause of guaranty of payment of rent, incorporated
or indorsed, five cents additional.
Manifest for custom house entry or clearance of the cargo of any
ship, vessel, or steamer for a foreign port, if the
registered tonnage of such ship, vessel, or
steamer does not exceed 300 tons $1 00
” exceeding 300 tons, and not exceeding 600 tons 3 00
” exceeding 600 tons 5 00
Measurer’s Returns, if for quantity not exceeding one
thousand bushels exempt.
” exceeding one thousand bushels ”
Mortgage, trust deed, bill of sale, or personal bond for
the payment of money exceeding $100, and
not exceeding $500 50 cts.
” exceeding $500, for every additional $500, or
fractional part thereof in excess of $500 50 cts.
Pawners’ Checks. 5 cts.
Pension Papers.—Powers of attorney, and all other papers
relating to applications for bounties, arrearages
of pay, or pensions, or to receipt thereof exempt.
Passage Ticket from the United States to a foreign port,
costing not more than $35 50 cts.
” from the United States to a foreign port, costing
more than $35, and not exceeding $50 $1 00
” for every additional $50, or fractional part
thereof in excess of $50 $1 00
Power of Attorney to sell or transfer stock, or collect
dividends thereon 25 cts.
” to vote at election of incorporated company 10 cts.
” to receive or collect rents 25 cts.
” to sell, or convey, or rent, or lease real estate $1 00
” for any purpose 50 cts.
Probate of Will, or letters of administration, where the value
of both real and personal estate does not
exceed $2,000 $1 00
” for every additional $1,000, or fractional part
thereof in excess of $2,000 50 cts.
” bonds of executors, administrators, guardians,
and trustees, are each subject to a stamp duty of $1 00
” certificate of appointment 5 cts.
Protest upon bill, note, check, or draft 25 cts.
Promissory Note.—(See Bills of Exchange, Inland.)
” deposit note to mutual insurance companies,
when policy is subject to duty exempt.
” renewal of, subject to same duty as an original note.
Quit Claim Deed, to be stamped as a conveyance, except
when given as a release of a mortgage by the
mortgagee to the mortgagor, in which case
it is exempt.
Receipt for the payment of any sum of money or debt due
exceeding $20, or for the delivery of any property 2 cts.
” for satisfaction of any mortgage or judgment or
decree of any court exempt.
Sheriff’s return on writ or other process exempt.
Trust Deed, made to secure a debt, to be stamped as a
mortgage.
” conveying estate to uses, to be stamped as conveyance.
Warehouse Receipt for any goods, wares, or merchandise not
otherwise provided for, deposited or stored in
any public or private warehouse, not exceeding
$500 in value exempt.
” exceeding $500, and not exceeding $1,000 ”
” exceeding $1,000, for every additional $1,000,
or fractional part thereof in excess of $1.000 ”
” for any goods, &c. not otherwise provided for,
stored or deposited in any public or private
warehouse or yard ”
Writs and Legal Documents:
Writ, or other original process by which suit is
commenced in any court of record, either of
law or equity 50 cts.
Writ, or other original process issued by a court
not of record, where the amount claimed
is $100 or over 50 cts.
Upon every confession of judgment or cognovit
for $100, or over, except in cases where the
tax for a writ has been paid 50 cts.
Writs, or other process on appeals from justices’
courts, or other courts of inferior jurisdiction,
to a court of record 50 cts.
Warrant of distress, when the amount of rent
claimed does not exceed $100 25 cts.
Warrant of distress when amount exceeds $100 50 cts.
Writs, summons, and other process issued by a
justice of the peace, police or municipal court,
of no greater jurisdiction than a justice of the
peace in the same State exempt.
Writs, and other process in any criminal or
other suits commenced by the United States
in any State exempt.
Official documents, instruments, and papers
issued or used by officers of the United
States Government exempt.
GENERAL REMARKS.
Revenue stamps may be used indiscriminately upon any of the matters or things enumerated in Schedule B, except proprietary and playing card stamps, for which a special use has been provided.
Postage stamps can not be used in payment of the duty chargeable on instruments.
It is the duty of the maker of an instrument to affix the stamp thereto and to cancel the same in the manner required by law. Proper cancellation is essential.
Under the provisions of section 158, an instrument subject to stamp duty, but issued without a stamp or with an insufficient one, may be so stamped by the Collector as to be as valid to all intents and purposes (except as against rights acquired in good faith before such stamping and the recording of the instrument, if a record be required) as if properly stamped when made or issued. Such an instrument, issued at a time when and in a place where no collection district was established, may be stamped by the party who issued it or by any party having an interest therein at any time prior to January 1, 1867, and the legal effect of the stamp thus affixed will be the same as though affixed by the Collector. When originals are lost the necessary stamps may be affixed to copies.
Suits are commenced in many States by other process than writ, viz.: summons, warrant, publication, petition, etc., in which cases, these, as the original processes, severally require stamps.
The jurat of an affidavit, taken before a Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, or other officer duly authorized to take affidavits, is held to be a certificate, and subject to a stamp duty of five cents, except when taken in suits or legal proceedings.
Certificates of Loan, in which there shall appear any written or printed evidence of an amount of money to be paid on demand, or at a time designated, are subject to stamp duty as “Promissory Notes.”
When two or more persons join in the execution of an instrument, the stamp to which the instrument is liable under the law may be affixed and cancelled by either of them; and “when more than one signature is affixed to the same paper, one or more stamps may be affixed thereto representing the whole amount of the stamp required for such signature.”
No stamp is required on any warrant of attorney accompanying a bond or note when such bond or note has affixed thereto the stamp or stamps denoting the duty required; and whenever any bond or note is secured by mortgage, but one stamp duty is required on such papers, such stamp duty being the highest rate required for such instruments, or either of them. In such case a note or memorandum of the value or denomination of the stamp affixed should be made upon the margin or in the acknowledgment of the instrument which is not stamped.