EXCISE, a word derived through the Dutch excijs or accijs, from late Latin accensare—to tax (cf. census), meaning in British law any branch of the revenue placed by statute under the aegis of the commissioners of excise. In modern times, however, the term generally connotes a tax on articles of home manufacture in contradistinction to customs duties, which are levied on certain articles imported. Under the Tudors the sources of English revenue had been the anxious concern of the sovereign : the basis of taxation had remained unaltered for some three hundred years. Intercourse with Holland during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. had familiarized statesmen and others with the system of excise duties in operation in the Low Countries and as early as 1626 an abortive proposal was made for their introduction into Great Britain. On the outbreak of the Civil War parliamentary need of money became acute and owing to the system of farming the tonnage and poundage for long terms it was impracticable to amend or add to those duties. The excise system, however, man aged as it was by a board of commissioners, afforded a system of taxation which could be extended almost indefinitely at the shortest notice. Accordingly a parliamentary ordinance was en acted (July 26, 1643) imposing excise duties on a great variety of articles. The system was admittedly tentative and a succession of ordinances issued from parliament modifying the various taxes from time to time. It is to be noted that the early ordinances imposed excise duties on many foreign articles. Charles I. was not long in following the example of parliament and in the coun ties which remained loyal excise was collected on his behalf. Throughout the commonwealth the excise duties were regarded as temporary, but at the restoration the revenue of the country came under review, and as for some years past the old feudal revenues had fallen into desuetude it was necessary to find a permanent sub stitute. This the growing revenue of the excise provided. Half the excise revenue was definitely allotted to Charles and his heirs for their personal revenue, and half, termed the "temporary" ex cise, was voted him for life, and after the revolution went to form part of the ordinary revenue of the country. This arrangement continued until 1787 when, on the formation of the "consolidated fund," the whole of the excise was transferred to the State (27 Geo. III., cap. 13) .
At its inception the excise revenue was placed under com missioners but for some time it was farmed out for short periods on the old system. With the restoration, farming was gradually abolished, though in some of the more distant counties the excise farm continued for some considerable time. Farming the revenue was open to the objection, among others, that it was inelastic, it being difficult to vary the various duties during the continuance of the farm. At the same time, the restoration placed Charles in a difficult position with regard to the thousands of claims on his bounty made by adherents of the Stuart cause. The customs and excise services formed a very useful and welcome field for paying off these debts, as the hundreds of offices, small and great, were all available and were filled by patent or by direct Treasury nomi nation. At the revolution, William availed himself of the same facilities and by the end of his reign farming the excise had prac tically disappeared from the English fiscal system.
In Scotland, excise dates from Jan. 1644, when the first act was passed by the Edinburgh parliament. For many years it was col lected with great difficulty, particularly in the Highlands, and farming was the rule. At the union, however, the English system was adopted, though both Scotland and Ireland retained their separate boards of commissioners. The United Kingdom excise was consolidated under one management in 1823 (4 Geo. IV., cap. 23).
With the coming of the 19th century "excise" gradually became associated with duties on articles of home manufacture, together with the revenue derived from licences to manufacture or deal in those articles, and also sundry other licences conferring certain classes of privileges. Up to the middle of the i9th century, and more particularly as a result of the Parnell commission of excise enquiry , numerous articles were withdrawn from the tariff and by the end of the century the major part of the excise revenue was derived from spirits and beer. The Entertainments Duty was first levied in 1916, and the Betting Tax ten years later.
In the early 'eighties the warehousing systems of the customs and excise services were assimilated (44/5 Vic. cap. 12), and in 1889 a proposal was mooted for amalgamating the two depart ments. The scheme was shelved for the time being, mainly owing to the fact that the inland revenue board included the old board of stamps and taxes as well as excise, which had been amalgamated in 1849. In 1909 the excise was amalgamated with the customs.
The equivalent in the United States is "internal revenue." BIBLIOGRAPIIY. Annual Reports of the Board of Inland Revenue Bibliograpiiy. Annual Reports of the Board of Inland Revenue in Parliamentary Papers vol. iv. p. 65 (1857), et seq.; Annual Reports of the Board of Customs and Excise (Cd. 5,302, 191o), et seq.; S. Dowell, A History of Taxation and Taxes in England (2nd ed. rev. 1888) ; B. R. Leftwich, A History of the Excise (1908).