ENTERTAINMENTS DUTY. This particular form of the taxation of luxuries was adopted by the parliament of the United Kingdom as a means of raising further revenue during the World War. The duty was imposed by the Finance (New Duties) act, 1916, sec. 1 of which provides that as from May 15, 1916, a duty is to be charged on all payments for admission to any entertainment as defined by the act, at the rates specified. The rates of duty were varied by subsequent acts, but the scheme of the duty as laid down in the Act of 1916 has not been substan tially altered, and remains as a description of the principles under which the tax has continued to be collected. The machinery by which the duty is levied is provided by an enactment that no per son is to be admitted for payment to any entertainment except with a ticket stamped with a stamp denoting that the proper duty has been paid, or (in special cases with the approval of the com missioners of customs and excise) through a barrier which auto matically registers the number of persons admitted. An excep tion is made in cases where the proprietor of the entertainment makes arrangements approved by the authorities for furnishing returns of the payments made for admission, and gives security for the due payment of the duty.
"Entertainment" includes any exhibition, performance, amuse ment, game or sport to which persons are admitted for payment. The duty, however, is not charged in any of the following cases : (a) Where the whole of the takings are devoted to philanthropic or charitable purposes without any charge on the takings for any expenses of the entertainment; (b) Where the entertainment is of a wholly educational character or is provided by a school not conducted for profit; (c) Where the entertainment is intended only for the amusement of children and the charge for admission does not exceed one penny per head; (d) Where the entertain ment is provided for educational or scientific purposes by a so ciety not seeking to make profit, or with the object of reviving national pastimes. If the whole of the proceeds are devoted to philanthropic or charitable purposes, and the expenses of the entertainment do not exceed 3o% of the receipts, the duty paid is repaid to the proprietor on proof of the facts. A "proprietor" for the purposes of the duty is defined as including any person responsible for the management of the entertainment.
The duty is not charged in respect of entertainments consisting solely of an exhibition (i) of the products of an industry, or of materials, machinery, appliances or foodstuffs used in the pro duction, or displays of skill by workers in the industry; or (2) of works of graphic art, sculpture, and arts craftsmanship, exe cuted and exhibited by persons who practise graphic art, sculp ture or arts craftsmanship for profit and as their main occupa tion, or of displays of skill by such persons in such arts or crafts; or (3) of articles or displays of skill which are of material inter est in connection with the public health. Failure to comply with the requirements of the act involves the person admitted in a penalty of £5, and the proprietor in a penalty of £50 in respect of each offence. In the case of subscriptions to clubs or societies which include the right of admission to entertainments, the duty is payable on the amount of the subscription or on such part thereof as the commissioners consider to represent the right of admission to entertainments. Rent paid primarily for the pur pose of securing admission to an entertainment (e.g., the rent of a box at the opera) is chargeable to the duty.
It has been held by the courts in England that a musical per formance provided during a meal to the guests at a restaurant is not an entertainment within the meaning of the act. On the other hand, where a Masonic festival was held which consisted of a dinner followed by a concert, the concert was held to be an entertainment.
The rate of duty depends upon the amount of the payment for admission. The rates have varied from time to time. Those in force in 1928 were as follows: Payment exceeding 6d. but not exceeding 7d. id.
7,, 8 r I a,, ,, 8 " " " 1/1 - 2 ,, " " i/3 3 ,, " 1/3 ,, ,, ,, - 4 ,, ,, " " " 3/0 - 6 ,, ff - 9 " " 7/6 - ,, " " " Io/6 - r/6 ,, ,, " " " 15/0 - " 2/0 for the first i5/ and 6d. for every 5/ or part of 5 / over 15/.
The annual yield of the tax is about (J. S. S.) ENTHUSIASM, a word originally meaning inspiration by a divine afflatus or by the presence of a god. The Gr. EvOovaeao u6e, from which the word is adapted, is formed from the verb ivOovvi&SECv, to be fvOeos, possessed by a god (Otter). Applied by the Greeks to manifestations of divine "possession," by Apollo, as in the case of the Pythia, or by Dionysus, as in the case of the Bacchantes and Maenads, it was also used in a transferred or figurative sense ; thus Socrates speaks of the inspiration of poets as a form of enthusiasm (Plato, Apol. Soc. 22 c). Its uses, in a religious sense, are confined to an exaggerated or wrongful belief in religious inspiration, or to intense religious fervour or emotion. In England, and more especially in the r 8th century, Enthusiasm was the term applied, net without a suggestion of suspicion or contempt, to emotional or fanatical religion. Enthu siasm, says Locke, is "founded neither on reason nor divine reve lation," but rises "from the conceits of a warmed or overweening brain"; it is, says Johnson, "A vain belief of private revelation a vain confidence of divine favour or communication." But ii modern usage enthusiasm has lost its peculiar religious signifi cance, and means a whole-hearted devotion to an ideal, cause study or pursuit.