CIRCULAR TO RAILROAD, CANAL, CANAL NAVIGATION, SLACKWATER, AND STOCKHOLDERS. of. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Corporations,tax The Internal Revenue act of June 30, 1864, fixes the rate of on interest paid by, and dividends taxation upon interest and dividends at five (5) per centum. This applies only to interest and dividends payable on or after July 1, 1864. The usual quarterly return (at three per cent.) to that date will be made directly to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue as heretofore. In future, quarterly returns will not be required unless tax has accrued, but the following regulations will be observed: The company will notify the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in what months the interest and dividends are payable; and a list or return will be made and rendered to the assessor or assistant assessor in duplicate, and one of said lists or returns will be transmitted by the company, and the duty paid to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, within thirty (30) days after the time when said interest and dividends are payable, and as often as every six months. The returns of tax on interest will be made on Form No. 68, and of dividends and undivided gains or profits used for construction, upon Form No. 65. Assessors will be particularly careful not to receive returns under the old law, and will bear in mind that the date when the interest and dividends are payable determines the rate of taxation. The blank Forms, Nos. 65 and 68, will be furnished to the assessors, and by the assessors to the companies, as soon as they can be prepared. The return and the payment should, in all cases, be sent to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue at the same time. JOSEPH J. LEWIS, Commissioner. CIRCULAR No. 16. TO ASSESSORS AND COLLECTORS CONCERNING TAXES IMPOSED UPON BANKS, INSURANCE, RAILROAD COMPANIES, &c. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, July 6, 1864. The particular attention of the local officers of internal revenue is directed to sections 105, 110, 120, 121, and 122 of the act approved June 30, 1864, wherein sundry changes are made in the mode of assessment and collection of the taxes imposed upon the above-named corporations. Tax on corporations. With respect to all taxes under the old law of the nature Taxes prior to referred to hereafter, and due prior to July 1, 1864, your duties July 1, 1864. remain unchanged; and collectors will be particularly careful not to receive them, as their receipt will involve errors, which must, in all cases, be corrected. Under the new Internal Revenue act, (approved June 30, 1864,) insurance companies will report gross receipts monthly to the assessor, and pay the duty thereon to the collector. The first return is for the month of July, 1864, and the blank form to be used for this purpose is numbered 64. July 1, 1864. Banks, trust companies, savings institutions, insurance, rail- Tax on and after road, canal, canal navigation, slackwater, and turnpike companies are to report all dividends payable on or after July 1, 1864, to the assessor in duplicate; and are to transmit one of the said returns, with payment of the amount of tax, to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue at Washington. (Form No. 65.) Railroad, canal, canal navigation, slackwater, and turnpike companies will report all interest on bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, to the assessor in duplicate; and the tax will be paid, as above, to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. (Form No. 68.) All plank roads, and roads upon which tolls are taken, are deemed turnpikes within the meaning of the act. Banks issuing notes for circulation as currency, neglecting or omitting to make dividends as often as once in six months, will make return to the assessor of the profits which have accrued during the six months preceding the first days of January and July in each year, and pay the duty thereon to the collector of the district. The first return will be for the half-year ending June 30, 1864. (Form No. 66.) Tax on banks. The return of duties imposed upon capital, deposits, and circu- Capital, deposits, lation of banking-houses, (except National Banks, which will and circulation. make return and payment to the Treasurer of the United States,) is to be made monthly to the assessor in duplicate, and the tax ors. Duties of assess paid to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. (Form No. The assessors are required to make careful examination of the returns to them, and to report at once to this office any misstatement or fraudulent evasion they may discover, either from such examination or from their knowledge of the business of the company otherwise obtained. They will, in all cases, require statements of whatever dividends were payable after June 30, 1864, without regard to the time when such dividends were declared. They will pursue the same course in regard to interest upon bonds payable after the same date. In communicating with this office, assessors will observe the regulation requiring that but a single subject shall be treated in a single letter, and great care should be used in allowing claims for reduction of amount of tax due. The necessary blanks will be forwarded as soon as they can be prepared. JOSEPH J. LEWIS, Commissioner. CIRCULAR No. 17. REGULATIONS UNDER WHICH COLLECTORS MAY IMPRESS STAMPS UPON INSTRUMENTS.-(SECTION 162, ACT OF JUNE 30, 1864.) Duty of collectors in reference to the struments. The fact, wheth TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF INTERNAL REVENUE, The 162d section of the act of June 30, 1864, provides that stamp tax upon in- any person may present to the collector of the district, subject to the rules and regulations of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, any instrument not previously issued or used, and require his opinion whether or not the same is chargeable with any stamp er exempt or not, duty. If such instrument is determined to be exempt, the colto be stamped up- lector is to impress thereon a stamp indicating that fact; if the instrument is determined to be chargeable with a stamp duty, the collector may, upon payment therefor, affix and cancel the proper stamp, and he will then impress thereon a stamp indicating that the instrument is chargeable only with the duty denoted by the stamp affixed. on the instrument. In furtherance of the aim of this section, each collector will be furnished by this office with the requisite stamps for the impressions described. A blank will be left within each impression, upon which the collector will write his name whenever it is placed upon any instrument. In no case will any collector thus decide upon the stamp duty chargeable upon an instrument unless one of the parties to the instrument is a resident of his collection district, or unless the subject-matter of the instrument is real estate situated within his. district. the instrument, or Whenever a collector is in doubt as to the liability of an in- In case of doubt, strument to stamp duty, or as to the amount of such stamp duty, a copy, to be sent either the instrument or a copy thereof (at the option of the to department. holder) should be transmitted to this office for instructions before any stamp is impressed. It will be proper to adopt this course in all instances where the instrument is of a nature with which the collector is unfamiliar. Collector to keep mit copy monthly. Each collector will keep a record of all instruments upon which either stamp is impressed, in which must be given the a record and transnames of the parties to the instrument, the date of its execution, and a sufficient description of its nature to show the reasons for impressing the particular stamp. A copy of this record will be transmitted to this office at the close of each month during which any entry is made. If, however, during any month, the only instruments impressed with either stamp shall have been first submitted to this office for instructions, the transmission of the record may be deferred until a subsequent month. ested he cannot act. It will be improper for any collector to impress his stamp upon Ifcollector interan instrument in which he is interested, or which may be made by or for the use of a corporation of which he is a member, or in which he is a stockholder, without first receiving special instructions from this office. required in certain When a collector has any reason to suppose that the consider- Evidence of valation expressed in an instrument which is subject to an ad valo- ue of property to be rem duty is less than the actual consideration passing between cases. the parties, he should require evidence upon the point before impressing any stamp; and where the amount of stamp duty is dependent upon the estimated value of any property or estate, he should in like manner require evidence before impressing the stamp. 22 * JOSEPH J. LEWIS, Commissioner. |