Finance Act - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

In the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Chancellor of the Exchequer

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...

delivers an annual Budget speech on Budget Day, outlining changes in spending, as well as tax

Tax

To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...

and duty

Duty

Duty is a term that conveys a sense of moral commitment to someone or something. The moral commitment is the sort that results in action and it is not a matter of passive feeling or mere recognition...

. The changes to tax and duty are passed as law, and each year form the respective Finance Act. For example, changes to the law as a result of Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

's 2004 Budget form the Finance Act 2004

Finance Act 2004

The Finance Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It prescribes changes to Excise Duties, Value Added Tax, Income Tax, Corporation Tax, and Capital Gains Tax...

.

The rules governing the various taxation methods are contained within the relevant taxation acts. (For instance Capital Gains Tax Legislation is contained within Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992

Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992

The Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 is an Act of Parliament which governs to levying of capital gains tax in the United Kingdom. Capital gains tax is a tax charged on the increase in the capital value of an asset between purchase and sale of that asset....

. The Finance Act details amendments to be made to each one of these Acts. The main taxes are Excise Duties; Value Added Tax

Value added tax

A value added tax or value-added tax is a form of consumption tax. From the perspective of the buyer, it is a tax on the purchase price. From that of the seller, it is a tax only on the "value added" to a product, material or service, from an accounting point of view, by this stage of its...

; Income Tax

Income tax

An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...

; Corporation Tax; and Capital Gains Tax.

Excise

Excise duties are inland duties levied on articles at the time of their manufacture.

Alcoholic liquor duties
- Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979
Hydrocarbon oil duties
- Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979
Tobacco products duty
- Tobacco Products Duty Act 1979
Gaming duty
- Finance Act 1997 (rates of gaming duty)
Amusement machine licence duty
- Betting and Gaming Duties Act 1981
Vehicle excise duty
- Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994

Full title of the Act including pre-amble and enacting formula

An Act to grant certain duties, to alter other duties, and to amend the law relating to the National Debt and the Public Revenue, and to make further provision in connection with finance.

Most Gracious Sovereign

WE Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects the Commons of the United Kingdom in Parliament assembled, towards raising the necessary supplies to defray Your Majesty's public expenses and making an addition to the public revenue have freely and voluntarily resolved to give and grant unto Your Majesty the several duties hereinafter mentioned and do therefore most humbly beseech Your Majesty that it may be it enacted and be it enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows.

Finance Act 1910

The Finance Act 1910 led to the "Lloyd George Domesday land-survey", and the 1910-1915 Valuation Maps. Each property ('hereditament') in England and Wales was surveyed and valued, so a land value tax

Land value tax

A land value tax is a levy on the unimproved value of land. It is an ad valorem tax on land that disregards the value of buildings, personal property and other improvements...

could be levied when the property was sold. The proposed rate was 20% of the increase in land-value between the date of the "Domesday" survey and the date of sale. Exemptions included farm-land and plots smaller than 50 acres (202,343 m²). The tax was repealed in 1920.

As part of the survey, landowners had to fill in a form, and the resulting records are extremely useful for local history

Local history

Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context and it often concentrates on the local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history...

. The records today consist of

- working maps
- valuation maps
- valuation books
- field books.

The valuation maps and books are kept in local record offices, and the other items are in the National Archives at Kew

Kew

Kew is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in South West London. Kew is best known for being the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens, now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace...

(field books in series IR58; working maps in series IR121 to IR135 according to region: each region has up to 22 different districts).

Finance Act 1920

To included a new 'Duty on licences for mechanically propelled vehicles' (which went into the Road Fund

Road Fund

The Road Fund was a British Government fund designated to pay for the building and maintenance of the United Kingdom road network. Its income came originally from vehicle excise duty, until that ceased to be hypothecated for roads use in 1936, and then from government grants...

), Repealed 'customs duties on motor spirit and motor spirit dealers licence duties' and introduced 'Provisions as to spirits used for generating mechanical power' along with other provisions related to income tax and tax on alcohol.

Finance Act 1946

The 1946 Act, passed by the post World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

Labour Government, made several provisions including the establishment of the National Land Fund

National Land Fund

The National Land Fund of the United Kingdom was created in 1946 to secure culturally significant property for the nation as a memorial to the dead of World War II. Proposed by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Hugh Dalton, the Fund was confirmed in section 48 of the Finance Act 1946 with a sum of...

Finance Act 2000

The Finance Act 2000 introduced the Climate Change Levy

Climate Change Levy