TEXT OF WAR STAMP TAX LAW TITLE VIII OF THE ACT OF OCTOBER 3, 1917 1 Sec. 800. That on and after the first day of December, nineteen hundred and seventeen, there shall be levied, collected, and paid, for and in respect of the several bonds, debentures, or certificates of stock and of indebtedness, and other documents, instruments, matters and things mentioned and described in Schedule A of this title, or for or in respect of the vellum, parchment, or paper upon which such instruments, matters, or things, or any of them, are written or printed, by any person, corporation, partnership, or association who makes, signs, issues, sells, removes, consigns, or ships the same, or for whose use or benefit the same are made, signed, issued, sold, removed, consigned, or shipped, the several taxes specified in such schedule. Sec. 801. That there shall not be taxed under this title any bond, note, or other instrument, issued by the United States, or by any foreign Government, or by any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, or local subdivision thereof, or municipal or other corporation exercising the taxing power, when issued in the exercise of a strictly governmental, taxing, or municipal function; or stock and bonds issued by co-operative building and loan associations which are organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of their members and make loans only to their shareholders, or by mutual ditch or irrigating companies. Sec. 802. That whoever (a) Makes, signs, issues or accepts, or causes to be made, signed, issued, or accepted, any instrument, document, or paper of any kind or description whatsoever without the full amount of tax thereon being duly paid; (b) Consigns or ships, or causes to be consigned or shipped, by parcel post any parcel, package or article without the full amount of tax being duly paid; (c) Manufactures or imports and sells, or offers for sale, or causes to be manufactured or imported and sold, or offered for sale, any playing cards, package, or other article without the full amount of tax being duly paid; (d) Makes use of an adhesive stamp to denote any tax imposed by this title without canceling or obliterating such stamp as prescribed in section eight hundred and four; Is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall pay a fine of not more than $100 for each offense. Sec. 803. That whoever (a) Fraudulently cuts, tears, or removes from any vellum, parchment, paper, instrument, writing, package, or article, upon which any tax is imposed by this title, any adhesive stamp or the impression of any stamp, die, plate, or other article provided, made, or used in pursuance of this title; (b) Fraudulently uses, joins, fixes, or places to, with, or upon any vellum, parchment, paper, instrument, writing, package, or article, upon which any tax is imposed by this title, (1) any adhesive stamp, or the impression of any stamp, die, plate, or other article, which has been cut, torn, or removed from any other vellum, parchment, paper, instrument, writing, package, or article, upon which any tax is imposed by this title or (2) any adhesive stamp or the impression of any stamp, die, plate, or other article of insufficient value; or (3) any forged or counterfeit stamp, or the impression of any forged or counterfeited stamp, die, plate, or other article; (c) Willfully removes, or alters the cancellation, or defacing marks of, or otherwise prepares, any adhesive stamp, with intent to use, or cause the same to be used, after it has been already used, or knowingly or willfully buys, sells, offers for sale, or gives away, any such washed or restored stamp to any person for use, or knowingly uses the same; (d) Knowingly and without lawful excuse (the burden of proof of such excuse being on the accused) has in possession any washed, restored, or altered stamp, which has been removed from any vellum, parchment, paper, instrument, writing, package, or article, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, in the discretion of the court, and any such reused, canceled, or counterfeit stamp and the vellum, parchment, document, paper, package, or article upon which it is placed or impressed shall be forfeited to the United States. Sec. 804. That whenever an adhesive stamp is used for denot ing any tax imposed by this title, except as hereinafter provided, the person, corporation, partnership, or association using or affixing the same shall write or stamp or cause to be written or stamped thereupon the initials of his or its name and the date upon which the same is attached or used, so that the same may not again be used: Provided, That the Commissioner of Internal Revenue may prescribe such other method for the cancellation of such stamps as he may deem expedient. Sec. 805. (a) That the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall cause to be prepared and distributed for the payment of the taxes prescribed in this title suitable stamps denoting the tax on the document, articles, or thing to which the same may be affixed, and shall prescribe such method for the affixing of said stamps in substitution for or in addition to the method provided in this title, as he may deem expedient. (b) The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, is authorized to procure any of the stamps provided for in this title by contract whenever such stamps cannot be speedily prepared by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing; but this authority shall expire on the first day of January, nineteen hundred and eighteen, except as to imprinted stamps furnished under contract, authorized by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. (c) All internal-revenue laws relating to the assessment and collection of taxes are hereby extended to and made a part of this title, so far as applicable, for the purpose of collecting stamp taxes omitted through mistake or fraud from any instrument, document, paper, writing, parcel, package, or article named herein. Sec. 806. That the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall furnish to the Postmaster General without prepayment a suitable quantity of adhesive stamps to be distributed to and kept on sale by the various postmasters in the United States. The Postmaster General may require each such postmaster to give additional or increased bond as postmaster for the value of the stamps so furnished, and each such postmaster shall deposit the receipts from the sale of such stamps to the credit of and render accounts to the Postmaster General at such times and in such form as he may by regulations prescribe. The Postmaster General shall at least once monthly transfer all collections from this source to the Treasury as internal-revenue collections. Sec. 807. That the collectors of the several districts shall furF. I. Tax Supp.-14 nish without prepayment to any assistant treasurer or designated depositary of the United States located in their respective collection districts a suitable quantity of adhesive stamps for sale. In such cases the collector may require a bond, with sufficient sureties, to an amount equal to the value of the adhesive stamps so furnished, conditioned for the faithful return, whenever so required, of all quantities or amounts undisposed of, and for the payment monthly of all quantities or amounts sold or not remaining on hand. The Secretary of the Treasury may from time to time make such regulations as he may find necessary to insure the safe-keeping or prevent the illegal use of all such adhesive stamps. SCHEDULE A-Stamp Taxes 1. Bonds of indebtedness: Bonds, debentures, or certificates of indebtedness issued on and after the first day of December, nineteen hundred and seventeen, by any person, corporation, partnership, or association, on each $100 of face value or fraction thereof, 5 cents: Provided, That every renewal of the foregoing shall be taxed as a new issue: Provided further, That when a bond conditioned for the repayment or payment of money is given in a penal sum greater than the debt secured, the tax shall be based upon the amount secured. 2. Bonds, indemnity, and surety: Bonds for indemnifying any person, corporation, partnership, or corporation who shall have become bound or engaged as surety, and all bonds for the due execution or performance of any contract, obligation, or requirement, or the duties of any office or position, and to account for money received by virtue thereof, and all other bonds of any description, except such as may be required in legal proceedings, not otherwise provided for in this schedule, 50 cents: Provided, That where a premium is charged for the execution of such bonds the tax shall be paid at the rate of one per centum on each dollar or fractional part thereof of the premium charged: Provided further, That policies of reinsurance shall be exempt from the tax imposed by this subdivision. 3. Capital stock, issue: On each original issue, whether on organization or reorganization, of certificates of stock by any association, company, or corporation, on each $100 of face value or fraction thereof, 5 cents: Provided, That where capital stock is issued without face value, the tax shall be 5 cents per share, un less the actual value is in excess of $100 per share, in which case the tax shall be 5 cents on each $100 of actual value or fraction thereof. The stamps representing the tax imposed by this subdivision shall be attached to the stock books and not to the certificates issued. 4. Capital stock, sales or transfers: On all sales, or agreements to sell, or memoranda of sales or deliveries of, or transfers of legal title to shares or certificates of stock in any association, company, or corporation, whether made upon or shown by the books of the association, company, or corporation, or by any assignment in blank, or by any delivery, or by any paper or agreement or memorandum or other evidence of transfer or sale, whether entitling the holder in any manner to the benefit of such stock or not, on each $100 of face value or fraction thereof, 2 cents, and where such shares of stock are without par value, the tax shall be 2 cents on the transfer or sale or agreement to sell on each share, unless the actual value thereof is in excess of $100 per share, in which case the tax shall be 2 cents on each $100 of actual value or fraction thereof: Provided, That it is not intended by this title to impose a tax upon an agreement evidencing a deposit of stock certificates as collateral security for money loaned thereon, which stock certificates are not actually sold, nor upon such stock certificates so deposited: Provided further, That the tax shall not be imposed upon deliveries or transfers to a broker for sale, nor upon deliveries or transfers by a broker to a customer for whom and upon whose order he has purchased same, but such deliveries or transfers shall be accompanied by a certificate setting forth the facts: Provided further, That in case of sale where the evidence of transfer is shown only by the books of the company the stamp shall be placed upon such books; and where the change of ownership is by transfer of the certificate the stamp shall be placed upon the certificate; and in cases of an agreement to sell or where the transfer is by delivery of the certificate assigned in blank there shall be made and delivered by the seller to the buyer a bill or memorandum of such sale, to which the stamp shall be affixed; and every bill or memorandum of sale or agreement to sell before mentioned shall show the date thereof, the name of the seller, the amount of the sale, and the matter or thing to which it refers. Any person or persons liable to pay the tax as herein provided, or anyone who acts in the matter as agent or broker for such person or per |