It is not a forfeiture, because that presupposes an offense. No matter what it may be called, or upon what interests imposed, no tax can be less burdensome, and interfere less with the productive and industrial agencies of society, and when the subject is fairly considered, no substantial objection presents itself for not applying the tax rigidly upon all interests, testate and intestate. Possibly small estates, widows, and purely public and private charitable institutions for the gratuitous relief of the poor, sick and helpless, should, in all cases, be exempt. 3. The Roman law.-The origin of the Collateral Inheritance or Succession Tax is plainly traceable to the Roman Civil Law. Gibbon says that it was suggested by the Emperor Augustus to the Senate, for the support of the Roman Army; that it was imposed at the rate of five per cent. upon all legacies or inheritances of a certain value, but that it was not exacted from the nearest relatives on the father's side, and that the tax was the most fruitful as well as the most comprehensive.1 It was called "Vice sima hereditatum et legatorum." § 4. In England. Its origin in England is said. 1 Arnaud v. Holland, 3 La. 337-560; Matter of Vanderbilt, N. Y. Law Jour. Apl. 22, 1890; Carpenter v. Com. 17 How. (U. S.), 462. 2 Matter of McPherson, 104 N. Y. 316. 3 Gibbon's Rome, Vol. I, p. 133. Dion Cassius (Lib. 55) says: "It was imposed upon all successions, etc., except those to the nearest relatives, and to the poor." It is also mentioned by Pliny, Panegyricus, cap. 37. 4 Id. p. 134. See, also, Williams' Case, 1827, 3 Bland's Ch. 259. to have been first brought to public notice by Adam Smith.1 There is reasonable ground for claiming that an inheritance or succession tax also existed under the feudal system, especially in the exactions which were made by the feudal lords of what are known as reliefs and primer seizins, in which the heir or successor was compelled to pay a certain sum, or perform a certain service, before he could be invested with the estates of his ancestor. While the statutes in this country, as a general rule, cover in one law all property passing to collaterals, etc., by will and by instrument inter vivos, to take effect after the death of the grantor, whether of real or personal property, in England legacy and succession taxes are imposed under independent statutes. Only legacies of personal property were, at first, taxed in that country. Successions to real property, to which the term is more accurately restricted,' were not made liable until the year 1853. The English Legacy Act originated, in 1780, with Lord North, whose attention, it is stated, was drawn to the Roman and Holland systems by Adam Smith's book." As this Act did not apply to devolutions of real property, but was a species of stamp tax upon re 1 Wealth of Nations, pp. 683, 684. 2 Blacks. Comm. (Shars. Ed.), Book II, Star pp. 66-68; Wealth of Nations, p. 684. See Appendix, where existing statutes of New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland are given in full. Blake v. McCartney, 4 Cliff. 101. 53 Dowell's Hist. of Taxation, etc., in England, 148. Gibbon's History was published between 1776 and 1780; Smith's work in 1776; but it is just as likely, as Gibbon held office under Lord North, that the latter received his ideas from the former. ceipts given for any legacy or share of the personal property of a decedent, and, being easily evaded, it was not a great source of revenue, particularly as where no receipt could be given no tax could be imposed;1 so that, in 1796, Pitt adopted the Roman system, as modified in Holland, by endeavoring to have all successions taxed. He clearly discerned the effect of such a law upon the revenues of the kingdom, if it could be applied to real estate and kindred property, but the Act, as proposed to Parliament, seems to have met with opposition, for, as finally passed, it only applied to personal property and shares given under the statute of distributions. By later statute it was extended to donationes mortis causa. Finally, in 1853, by the "Succession Duty Act," a new law came in force, taxing all successions to real property, chattels real, and a vast variety of personal property and rights not reached by the legacy act. This law owed its existence to the exertions of Gladstone, and to a certain extent displaces the legacy act, though, curiously enough, it has been held that where the legacy tax may not be imposed, the estate passing may nevertheless be liable to succession duty, and under some circumstances to both." 2 The Act of Victoria is minute in its details, contains elaborate tables for the purpose of establishing the value of annuities and other interests under it 1 Green v. Croft, 2 H. Bl. 30. 2 36 Geo. III, ch. 52, sec. 7; 8 and 9 Vict. ch. 76, sec. 4; 44 Vict. ch. 12, sec. 38. 3 16 and 17 Vict. ch. 51. Atty. Genl. v. Cleave, 31 L. T. N. S. 86; Atty.-Genl. v. Lit tledale, L. R. 5 Ex. 275. and under the Legacy Act,' and seems to tax every conceivable interest accruing either by last will and testament, intestate laws and acts inter vivos, and is in some instances both prospective and retroactive. Altogether it presents a most admirable system of taxation.8 There would seem to be, as a general rule, no exceptions allowed under this Act, even charitable corporations being taxed,' but under the "Legacy Act" husbands and wives are not taxed. The law was the same under the legacy act of Congress. The "Succession Duty Act" is more comprehensive in these respects than any of the statutes existing in this country, because its effects are sweeping, including not only strangers and collaterals, but, as we have said, lineal heirs in the ascending and descending line. The percentage of the tax is justly graduated from one to ten per cent., which latter sum is assessed upon shares to strangers to the blood and remote relatives." 2 Atty.-Genl. v. Fitzjohn, 2 H. & N. 465; Wilcox v. Smith, 26 L. J. Ch. 596; Atty.-Genl. v. Middleton, 3 H. & N. 125. 3 The English statutes are collated in Trevor's Taxes on Succession, 4th ed. London, p. 299, et seq. 4 16 and 17 Vict. ch. 51, sec. 16. 5 Layton, in speaking of the Act, says: "The provisions are of a most comprehensive and searching character, so much so that it is difficult to imagine a transaction or dealing with property, to take effect upon a death after the 19th May, 1853, that will elude its operation, general or special" (Legacy and Succession Duties, 7th ed. p. 110). "The principle of graduation (as it is called), that is, of levying a larger percentage on a larger sum, though its application to general taxation would be, in my opinion, objectionable, The Succession Tax is not imposed upon estates under 300,' and the Legacy Duty is not imposed when the personal property is under £100.2 That these taxes, when applied under well-drafted laws, may be made wonderfully remunerative to the State, and must lessen the general burden, is easily demonstrated by the fact that the English government now derives an enormous revenue from their enforcement." The law, however, is still said to be open to revision. Payment of the tax is secured by provisions which not only make the duty a first charge or lien on the property, as well as a debt to the Crown from the successor, but it also makes all persons accountable to the Crown for the duty-such as trustees and executors. We have given a few excerpts from these Acts in the notes." seems to me both just and expedient as applied to legacy and inheritance duties" (Mills' Polit. Econ. Book V, ch. II, sec. 3). 1 44 Vict. ch. 12, sec. 36; 16 and 17 Id. ch. 51, sec. 18. 3 In 1881 it amounted to £3,592,777; in 1882, £3,540.585, and in 1883, £3,536,538, or nearly $18,000,000. 4 5 3 Dowell's History on Taxation, etc., in England, p. 155. 3 Dowell's History, p. 152; 16 and 17 Vict. ch. 51, secs. 42, 44. The principal English works treating of this topic are Layton's Legacy and Succession Duties (1888, London), Trevor's Taxes on Successions (London, 1881) and Hanson on Probate, Legacy and Succession Duties (London). For the English statutes, and decisions thereon, also consult 3 Fisher's Har. Dig. 5416-5430; 4 Id. 7480; 6 Fisher's C. L. Dig. 631. The "Legacy Act" (55 George III, chap. 184) makes the following rates payable on legacies and the residue of personal estate and real estate directed to be sold, whether the title to such residue accrues by virtue of any testamentary dispositions or upon a portion or total intestacy, whether the amount is £20 or upwards: |