A summary appears in Thursday's Times of the annual report
upon German Finance by the Councillor of the British Embassy at Berlin. It is especially interesting, as it gives some idea of the working of the new taxes which were estab- lished in the summer of 1909, and have consequently been in operation now for eighteen months. In several cases experi- ence of the new taxes has enabled the Finance Minister to fix his estimates for 1911-12 higher than those for last year. For instance, the estimate for stamps is increased by 21,000,000, for the inheritance duty by 2245,000, and for Customs by £313,000. The new Excise duties, on the other hand, are appa- rently not doing so well, and this is especially true of the tax on spirits, which is estimated in the new Budget at about £808,000 less than in the last one. A new source of revenue comes into existence this year in the shape of the increment duty, which is expected to yield £636,000 in the coming year. Most of this is to be devoted to the increased military ex- penditure, which is to amount altogether in the next five years to £5,000,000. The Naval estimates for 1911-12 amount to £22,430,937—the largest sum ever proposed for the same purpose.
