| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act for altering the Stamp Duties upon Admissions into Corporations or Companies; and for further securing and improving the Stamp Duties in Great Britain. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 10 Ann. c. 18 (Ruffhead c. 19) |
| Territorial extent | Great Britain |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 22 May 1712 |
| Commencement | 5 July 1765 |
| Repealed | 1 July 1855 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Revenue Officers' Disabilities Removal Act 1874 |
Status: Repealed | |
The Stamp Act 1712 (cited either as 10 Ann. c. 18 or as 10 Ann. c. 19[1]) was an act passed in the Kingdom of Great Britain on 1 August 1712 to create a new tax on publishers, particularly of newspapers.[2][3][4] Newspapers were subjected to tax and price increased. The stamp tax was a tax on each newspaper and thus hit cheaper papers and popular readership harder than wealthy consumers (because it formed a higher proportion of the purchase price). It was increased in 1797, reduced in 1836 and was finally ended in 1855, thus allowing a cheap press. It was enforced until its repeal in 1855.[5] The initial assessed rate of tax was one penny per whole newspaper sheet, a halfpenny for a half sheet, and one shilling per advertisement contained within.[6] The act had a potentially chilling effect on publishers; Jonathan Swift was a frequent publisher of newspapers, and complained in a letter[7] about the new tax. Other than newspapers, it required that all pamphlets, legal documents, commercial bills, advertisements, and other papers issued the tax.[8] The tax is blamed for the decline of English literature critical of the government during the period, notably with The Spectator ending the same year of the tax's enactment.[9] It would see increasingly greater taxes and wider spectrum of materials affected until its repeal in 1855.
- ^ The act is numbered as 10 Ann. c. 18 in The Statutes of the Realm (published 1810–25), based on the original Parliament Rolls; but as 10 Ann. c. 19 in Ruffhead's Statutes at Large (published 1763–65; and later editions), based on the copies of acts enrolled in Chancery. Both forms of citation are acceptable, and both are found in reputable secondary sources.
- ^ Thomas, Joseph M. (1916). "Swift and the Stamp Act of 1712". PMLA. 31 (2). Modern Language Association: 247–263. doi:10.2307/456958. JSTOR 456958.
- ^ Downie, J. A. (1979). "7 - The Stamp Act of 1712". Robert Harley and the Press: Propaganda and Public Opinion in the Age of Swift and Defoe. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ^ "BBC News - The key moments that shaped the British press". Bbc.co.uk. 17 November 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ^ "A brief timeline of UK newspaper publishing". Making the Modern World. The Science Museum. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ Ehrenpreis, Irvin (1967). Swift: The Man, His Works, And The Age. Vol. II: Dr. Swift. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674858329. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ^ "Letter 51". The Journal to Stella, by Jonathan Swift. The University of Adelaide. 12 November 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ^ "Stamp Act". Infoplease.com. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^ Justice, George (2002). The Manufacturers of Literature: Writing and the Literary Marketplace in Eighteenth-Century England. University of Delaware Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-87413-750-7. Retrieved 10 December 2012.