The Role of Income Tax in the Genesis of the Tax Profession
Keywords:
Income Tax, Accounting Profession Development, Tax Profession Development, Newspaper Reports/ArticlesAbstract
This paper has two main aims: first, to show how and why, from a functionalist perspective, income tax, especially after 1842, contributed to the development of the accounting profession; and, second, to show how, by this, the seeds of a specialist tax profession were sown. It examines the nature of the legal and commercial difficulties associated with income tax as revealed by the academic literature, then goes on to use newspaper and other press reports and articles to show how accountants were involved in helping to resolve such difficulties on a day-to-day basis. It does this for a key period of development for both income tax and the
accounting profession: between 1798 and 1900. The examination of press materials reveals that accountants’ involvement in income tax not only helped towards the development of the profession, but, arguably, drove the development of accounting principles and sowed the seeds for a more specialist tax profession to emerge.
References
TABLE OF STATUTES
& 6 Vict. c. 100 (Income Tax Act 1842).
& 8 Vict. c. 110 (Joint Stock Companies Act 1844).
& 38 Vict. c. 16 (Customs and Inland Revenue Act 1874).
&42 Vict. c. 15 (Customs and Inland Revenue Act 1878).
& 44 Vict. c. 19 (Taxes Management Act 1880).
TABLE OF CASES
Burnley Steamship Company v Aikin (1894) 3 TC 275.
Caledonian Railway Company v Banks (1880) 1 TC 487.
Coltness Iron Company v Black (1879) 1 TC 287.
Coltness Iron Company v Black (1881) 1 TC 292.
Forder v Andrew Handyside and Company Limited (1876) 1 TC 65.
Knowles (Andrew) and Sons Limited v MacAdam (1877) 1 TC 161.
Leith, Hull, and Hamburg Steam Packet Company v Bain (1897) 3 TC 560.
Re Addie & Sons (1875) 1 TC 1.
NEWSPAPER MATERIALS
Advertisements & notices. (1870, June 7). Western Mail. British Library Newspapers. Retrieved December 24, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8ctm61
Chadwick, David. (1878, March 30). Income-tax assessment. The Times, p. 8. The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved December 29, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8eJVXX
Clyde Steamship Owners’ Association. (1896, January 9). Glasgow Herald. British Library Newspapers. Retrieved December 29, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8eJGD4
Commercial reports. (1887, February 19). Leeds Mercury. British Library Newspapers. Retrieved December 29, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8eFGv1
Correspondence. (1855, June 9). The Economist, p. 622. The Economist Historical Archive, 1843-2014. Retrieved December 24, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8ctdb9
Freeman’s Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser (1863, August 10). British Library Newspapers, Part I: 1800-1900.
Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. (1875, May 12). Glasgow Herald. British Library Newspapers. Retrieved December 29, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8eEgm4
Glasgow Landlords’ Association. (1895, January 24). Glasgow Herald. British Library Newspapers. Retrieved December 29, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8eF5L6
Important to income-tax payers. (1842, July 23). Leicester Chronicle, p. 1, British Library Newspapers. Retrieved December 24, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8cuZR9
Income tax & Schedule D. (1845, November 29). Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle, Issue 2408. British Library Newspapers, Part I: 1800-1900.
Income-tax appeals. (1892, November 24). Western Mail. Retrieved December 24, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8cuYn8
Income-tax assessment. (1878, April 17). Capital and Labour: A Weekly Journal of Facts and Arguments on Questions Relating to Employers and Employed, p. 248. 19th Century UK Periodicals. Retrieved December 29, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8eEe91
Lex. (1871, October 27). Income tax assessment. Daily News. British Library Newspapers. Retrieved December 24, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8cuWW6
More about the income tax. (1880, May 15). Blackburn Standard: Darwen Observer, and North-East Lancashire Advertiser, Issue 2327, p. 2. British Library Newspapers, Part II: 1800-1900.
Multiple classified ads. (1873, March 1). Lancaster Gazette Supplement. British Library Newspapers. Retrieved December 24, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8ctnC3
Multiple news items. (1863, March 25). (London) Standard, Issue 12049, p. 4. British Library Newspapers, Part II: 1800-1900.
Multiple news items. (1863, March 26). (London) Standard, Issue 12050, p. 4. British Library Newspapers, Part II: 1800-1900.
Reforms in the system of assessment of uncertain incomes for income tax. (1898, April 7). The Dart: A Journal of Sense and Satire, p. 9. 19th Century UK Periodicals. Retrieved December 24, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8cuBB2
Report of the Clyde Steamship Owners’ Association. (1895, January 7). Glasgow Herald. British Library Newspapers. Retrieved December 29, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8eJHm5
Rodan. D. (1890, April 1) Income tax. Morning Post, p. 2. British Library Newspapers Retrieved December 24, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8cuYE0
Shipowners and Income Tax. (1895, December 28). Dundee Courier, p. 3. British Library Newspapers. Retrieved December 29, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8eEhb0
Sizer, J.H. (1883, December 1). Income tax. Schedule D. Essex Standard, West Suffolk Gazette, and Eastern Counties’ Advertiser, Issue 2764, p. 10. British Library Newspapers, Part II: 1800-1900.
The Anti-Income Tax Association. (1870, March 26). Morning Post, p. 3. British Library Newspapers. Retrieved December 24, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8cuFZ7
The Budget Bill. (1878, April 18). York Herald, p. 6. British Library Newspapers. Retrieved December 29, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8eJBg0
The Chancellor of the Exchequer on the income tax. (1872, February 28). Derby Mercury. British Library Newspapers. Retrieved January 25, 2019, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8tFM33
The Chancellor of the Exchequer on the income-tax (Schedule D). (1879, March 28). Leeds Mercury. British Library Newspapers. Retrieved December 29, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8eEp3X
The frauds under Schedule D, in the relation to the equalisation of the income tax. (1861, October 5). The Economist, p. 1095. The Economist Historical Archive, 1843-2014. Retrieved December 24, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8cuRb5
The grumblers at the unjust and vexatious assessment of the obnoxious income tax are legion. (1891, September 11). The Dart: A Journal of Sense and Satire, p. 13. 19th Century UK Periodicals. Retrieved December 24, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8ctdT8
The income-tax debate. (1878, March 2). Ipswich Journal, Issue 7610. British Library Newspapers, Part I: 1800-1900.
The income-tax, with all its most obnoxious clauses, it now fixed upon the country. (1842, May 14). Illustrated London News, p. 10. The Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003. Retrieved April 14, 2018, from https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/HN3100004339
The tramway dividend. (1880, September 8). Bristol Mercury. British Library Newspapers. Retrieved December 29, 2018, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8eFRQ3
T. Lovett. (1856, November 1). West Surrey Times. British Library Newspaper Archive, document reference BL_0001640_1856_007_0002.
What is income? (1880, November 17). Capital and Labour: A Weekly Journal of Facts and Arguments on Questions Relating to Employers and Employed, p. 612. 19th Century UK Periodicals. Retrieved January 25, 2019, from http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8tEqy8
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