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revenue stamps was revived and greatly extended by the Internal Revenue
Law of 1904, which became effective in so far as the use of Internal
Revenue stamps was concerned on January 1, 1905. This Act provided
that the Internal Revenue stamps affixed in payment of the excise tax to
official invoices, severing each removal from the place of manufacture
of goods subject to excise taxes should be so affixed that one half of
each stamp would be attached to the official invoice and .the other half
to the stub. In all other cases where Internal Revenue stamps were
used, and in all cases where Documentary stamps were used, the entire stamp
was to be affixed to the license or document as evidence of the payment
of the tax. Since 1905, the split method of using Internal Revenue
stamps has been gradually extended until, since about the end of 1933,
all Internal Revenue stamps have been so affixed that one half of each
stamp is attached to the tax receipt and the other half is attached to
the stub.
In 1930-32, there was issued a series of Customs Documentary stamps, which were roulette (of perforated) vertically through the center of each stamp. It was the intention to affix these stamps in such manner that one half of each stamp would be attached to the document and the other half to its stub. These Customs stamps were actually used in this manner on licenses issued to vessels engaged in the coastwise trade in 1933. But the practice was discontinued prior to January 1, 1936. The entire stamps were affixed to all Customs documents issued from January 1, 1936, to September 15, 1940. But Customs Administrative Order No. 382, which became effective on September 16, 1940, revived the practice of splitting customs stamps. In order to check the depredations of cattle thieves, a Royal Decree was issued in 1862, which provided for the compulsory registration, and the issue of Certificates of Ownership and Certificates of Transfer of Ownership of all large cattle. A small fee was collected in cash by the municipal government, which issued each certificate. The first revenue stamp for the collection of this fee was the stamp labeled “TRANS DE GANADOS” issued by the Philippine Revolutionary Government during the latter part of 1898. The U.S. Military Government, and the subsequent Civil Government, collected the fees for the registration of large cattle in cash from August 20, 1898, until June 30, 1904. In 1902, the fee collected for the issuance of a certificate of ownership or transfer was 50 centimes. Act No. 1147 of the Philippine Commission, which became effective on July l, 1904, fixed this fee at one peso and provided that it should be collected by affixing to each certificate a special one-peso revenue stamp, which was created for that sole purpose. This CATTLE REGISTRATION STAMP was in use from July 1, 1904, until June 30, 1906. Act No. 1465 of the Philippine Commission, which became effective on July 1, 1906, provided that a one-peso stamp should be printed directly upon each Certificate of Ownership and Certificate of Transfer. The stamp was printed in blue on Certificates of Ownership, and in red on Certificates of Transfer. There has been no change in the design of the stamp printed upon this special stamped paper since it was first issued on July 1, 1906. Law defines large cattle as carabaos, horses, mules, asses, and all members of the bovine family. The certificates are issued by the municipal treasurer and are countersigned by the municipal secretary and by the owner or vendor of the animal. The revenues from this stamp tax accrued to the municipal treasury. For the convenience of banks and persons using bank checks, it has been the practice for many years to permit the banks of the Philippines to have a 2-centavo Documentary Stamp printed directly upon blank check, which the bank issues to its customers. The Philippine Bureau of Printing upon stationery furnished by the banks does the printing of this Documentary Stamp. The author has been unable to determine the exact date on which the practice of issuing this class of Documentary Stamp Paper was begun, but the date may be fixed as not earlier than 1907 and not later than 1910. Since 1935, a 2-centavo
Documentary Stamp the same design as that printed upon bank checks has
been printed directly upon the Sweepstakes Tickets sold by the Philippine
Charity Sweepstakes, a corporation owned by the Philippine Government.
These sweepstakes tickets should therefore be classed as Documentary
Stamped Paper. They are printed by the Philippine Bureau of Printing.
The use of TAX METERS as a substitute for adhesive documentary stamps was begun; the author is informed, in 1939. These Tax Meters are similar to the Postage Meters, which have been in use for a number of years. The label printed upon the document by the Tax Meter indicates the amount of stamp tax and the registered number of the Tax Meter. An official of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, who opens the Tax Meter periodically and collects from the user the amount of the documentary stamp taxes recorded therein, holds the key to the Tax Meter. In August 1941, four banks and two insurance companies were using these Tax Meters. The Motor Vehicle Law (Act No. 3045), which became effective on March 10, 1922, required every person who drove a motor vehicle, whether the owner thereof or a professional chauffeur, to obtain annually a Driver’s License from the Director of Public Works. An annual fee of two pesos was fixed for each Drivers License issued to the owner of one or more vehicles not operated for hire; and an annual fee of five pesos was fixed for each Drivers License issued to a professional chauffeur or to an owner who operated his motor vehicles for hire. If any Driver’s License was not renewed on or before the last working day of February of each year, it became delinquent. The penalty for renewal of a delinquent Drivers License was five pesos in addition to the usual fee. For the purpose of collecting the fees and penalties pertaining to Drivers Licenses, there were issued in 1922, an accountable form called a Drivers License and valued at two pesos; and two adhesive revenue stamps, labeled BUREAU OF PUBLIC WORKS, whose denominations were 3 pesos and 5 pesos respectively. A basic minimum fee of two pesos was collected for each Drivers License, irrespective of whether or not it was issued in renewal of a delinquent license. If the Drivers License was issued to a chauffeur, or to an owner operating his motor vehicles for hire, a 3-peso stamp was affixed to the license in payment of the additional fee required in such cases. If the Drivers License was issued in renewal of a delinquent license, a 5 pesos stamp was affixed to the license in payment of the penalty for delinquency. The stamps were so affixed that, when the Drivers License was separated from its stub, one half of each stamp was attached to the license and the other half to the stub retained by the Bureau of Public Works. These Motor Vehicle Drivers License stamps were in use only during 1922 and 1923. Since 1923, all fees and penalties for Drivers Licenses have been collected in cash. Extremely few specimens of the Motor Vehicle Drivers License stamps appear to have been preserved. The author has not seen any entire specimens of these stamps, and he has seen only two halves, the left half of a 3-peso stamp and the right half of a 5-peso stamp. At present (December 1941), the following classes of revenue stamps and revenue stamped paper are in use for the collection of Philippine taxes: 1. Customs Stamps
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