RECEIPT STAMPS
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]
SIR,—The answer to a question raised by "Janus" last week is clear. All transactions involving the payment of La and upwards should yield the Treasury ad. by way of tax, whether the transaction is a cash one Of not. This takes the form of a stamp affixed to the receipt, but who should affix and pay for it? That the payee usually does both does not dispose of the matter. In some circumstances I suppose he would pay much more to get his money ; but his—or her—refusal to do so does not release the debtor, as he would find if he were sued for the amount. After signing the bill the payee can quite properly say, "There's your receipt. If you want to decorate it with a stamp that's your affair." That there is a considerable amount of evasion is undoubted, and can be looked for in all states of high taxation. To the "big stores" it is a considerable item and in one at least the practice is not to stamp the receipt unless the payorasks.—