Inheritance tax form, 1893

Inland Revenue: Account of the succession of personal property, dated 1893
Printer unknown, letterpress, 337 x 206mm (Project collection, kindly donated by Mr R.Nott)

For over 1000 years the state has taxed its citizens; in 1849 this task became the responsibility of the Inland Revenue. From its formation it issued forms, and the number and complexity of such forms increased throughout the nineteenth century. One of them is shown here: ‘Form No. 4. Account for Successions to Personal Property where Duty is Payable on Capital’. It was to be completed when personal property was inherited.

In this instance, dating from 1893, Bretherton, Son and Broughton Solicitors have ‘provided notice of the account’ – that is, sent the relevant details to the Inland Revenue. The form has been filled in by Walter Wilkins, a city broker, who was presumably one of the executors of the will. After the direct command (indicated by the printers’ fist) to ‘Here state the name and address of the person who forwards this account,’ the text outlines when this form was to be used, and when other forms should be used (No. 5 and No. 13 are mentioned). Below this, and indicated by the two horizontal rules, the task of filling in the form begins.

Explanations of the information that is demanded are given to the left-hand margin of the form. Their point of relevance in the form’s main text is shown by superscript numerals; the explanations are composed in a small typeface. They are, in other words, treated like footnotes in a book, except that the notes appear in the margin rather than at the foot of the page. Observe that item number (3), explained to the left as being the full address of the successor, has been left blank. Perhaps the form-filler did not have this information to hand.

In the spaces where a response was required, the form provided a series of faintly ruled blue lines, to guide the form-filler’s hand. Possibly the form-filler’s mathematical skills were not perfect, as there are a number of pencil markings, in the ‘Description of property’ table, showing the calculation of the total value of inherited property. Likewise an incorrect total value has been filled in at the foot of the Value column, which has subsequently been amended to reflect the true value. Was this a mistake in calculation, or the result of information only discovered after the initial calculation had been made?

The reverse of the form was completed by Inland Revenue officers, on the basis of the details supplied by the form filler. If signing the form had not been sufficient indication that the respondent’s role was over, the second side of the form admonishes that it is ‘For Official use only.’ In all, from the submission of the form to the payment of money, the process had taken just 10 days – extraordinarily rapid in the pre-computer age. This also testifies to the organisation and the number of people involved in processing taxation. The form would have been presented to the Somerset House office, which would have used up-to-date filing and sorting systems to help save time and money and increase efficiency.

For the curious, the levels of duty levied on successions were given at the foot of the reverse side of the form, after the receipt. The printer’s fist draws the eye to the notification of penalties for non-compliance. Would the reader have found these important details, tucked away at the end of the form, on a side that the respondent did not have to fill in?