The British fiscal system applies uniformly to England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, with the exception that Ireland is exempt from the land tax and the inhabited-house tax. It is inter esting to note the different results realized from the application of a uniform policy to kingdoms so differently conditioned[ It has been shown by Mr. J. W. Root that, omitting licenses (which scarcely benefit the Imperial exchequer), the proportion of the direct to the indirect taxes for the United Kingdom is as 46 to 54, whereas the proportion of direct to indirect taxes (1899) in the different kingdoms are as shown in the following table, together with the per capita value of the taxes: and to extend their application to include all the estates probated, thus adding greatly to the returns which this tax yields. The most impor tant of this class of taxes are the estate duties and the legacy duties, which in 1901 were re spectively £8,498,872 and £3,092,380. Since 1851 there has been a house tax taking the place of the old window tax assessed prior to that date. This tax is not levied upon property rented for less than £20 per year, thus exempting the houses of the working classes.
In 1840, before the introduction of the free trade policy (the sweeping corn laws were passed in 1846, and the policy became fully operative about 1860), 1046 articles were taxed. In 1901 the number had been reduced to 23 articles. The articles now taxed are those not produced in the United Kingdom, or such as are considered as luxuries, the latest article in the category of necessary products, sugar, having been placed upon the free list in 1874. The exigencies of
the South African War, however, led to the re imposition of a duty upon sugar, the raising of the duty upon tea, tobacco, spirits, and beer, It will be observed that the burden of the indirect taxes is relatively much heavier in Scot land and Ireland than in England. Presuming that the direct tax is the better measure of the wealth of the country, the per capita wealth of England is much greater than that of the other two kingdoms, particularly Ireland, the contrast becoming prominent when shown as based upon returns of the income tax: The inference is, therefore, that the actual ap plication of a uniform scheme of taxation in flicts a severer burden upon Scotland, and espe cially upon Ireland, than upon England.
The local taxes are annually supplemented by appropriations from the Imperial revenues. The levying and collecting of the local rates are in the hands of the elected local overseers, the valuation list being made to include every class of property. The rates for real property are based upon the annual value of the property as determined by the amount it will rent for. The town councils, boards of guardians, and school boards are the local spending bodies. In recent years local expenditure and indebtedness have in creased rapidly. British municipalities have be come noted for their activity in assuming the ownership and control of productive properties, ofttimes receiving the net revenue from this source.