A variety of products have been covered by stamp acts including playing cards, dice, patent medicines, cheques, mortgages, contracts, marriage licenses and newspapers.
[2] According to these acts, stamps were required on many types of business transactions: negotiable instruments, promissory notes, bills of lading, and receipts.
[3] In South Australia, the Stamp Duties Act 1923 was first enacted in 1923, then revised or amended almost yearly until its current version of 2017.
[9] Other than newspapers, it required that all pamphlets, legal documents, commercial bills, advertisements, and other papers be issued the tax.
The Stamp Office was also awarded the Charter Mark by John Major's Advisory Committee as a reward for its public service.
In 1997, stamp taxes produced revenue of 26.63 billion yuan and comprised 3.6% of China's gross domestic product.
[16][17] These printed materials were on every legal document, magazine, and newspaper, plus many other types of paper used throughout the colonies, including playing cards.
[20] Protests and demonstrations initiated by the newly formed Sons of Liberty often turned violent and destructive as the masses became involved.
The Stamp Act Congress convened in New York City on October 7, 1765, with nine colonies in attendance; others would likely have participated if earlier notice had been provided.
The Albany Congress in 1754 had been held at the urging of royal officials as a forum for voicing constitutional concerns and afforded the more conservative critics of British policy some hope of regaining control of events from the unruly mobs in the streets of many cities; in contrast, the Stamp Act Congress was strictly a colonial affair, reflecting the first significant joint colonial response to any British measure.
Delegates to the Stamp Act Congress approved a fourteen-point Declaration of Rights and Grievances as a petition to the Parliament and the King, formulated largely by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania.
The statement echoed the recent resolves of the Virginia House of Burgesses, which argued that colonial taxation could only be carried on by their own assemblies.
[18] The delegates singled out the Stamp Act and the use of the vice-admiralty courts for special criticism, yet ended their statement with a pledge of loyalty to the King.
In Canada, Nova Scotia largely ignored the Act; they allowed ships bearing unstamped papers to enter its ports, and business continued unabated after the distributors ran out of stamps.
[24] Newfoundland experienced some protests and petitions based on legislation dating back to the reign of Edward VI forbidding any sort of duties on the importation of goods related to its fisheries.
Political opposition was expressed in a number of colonies, including Barbados and Antigua, and by absentee landowners living in Britain.
In 1862, the United States (Union) government began taxing a variety of goods, services, and legal dealings, in an effort to raise revenue for the great costs of the war.
Tax was levied on a wide range of goods and services including alcohol, tobacco, tea, and other amusements and also on various legal and business transactions such as stock certificates, bills of lading, manifests, and marine insurance.