{"id":251,"date":"2021-04-04T22:42:19","date_gmt":"2021-04-04T22:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/legalblog.ie\/?p=251"},"modified":"2021-04-04T23:44:48","modified_gmt":"2021-04-04T23:44:48","slug":"finance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/finance\/","title":{"rendered":"Finance"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_63 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/finance\/#Revenue\" title=\"Revenue\">Revenue<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/finance\/#Structure\" title=\"Structure\">Structure<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/finance\/#Accounting_for_Public_Money\" title=\"Accounting for Public Money\">Accounting for Public Money<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Revenue\"><\/span>Revenue<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>At the end of the 18th century most revenue was raised from customs and excise.\u00a0 Excise duties covered a wide range of goods and materials including hearths, windows, mould, paper, leather , coaches, and even male servants.<\/p>\n<p>There were licence duties and tax on a wide variety of matters and things such as hearts, windows, servants, coaches and numerous other articles.<\/p>\n<p>An income tax was not introduced as it had been in Britain, at the end of the 18th century.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Structure\"><\/span>Structure<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The revenue side of the exchequer, which was of ancient origin, still functioned in the 17th and 18th centuries.\u00a0 Many of the offices were archaic and sinecure.\u00a0 They collected random revenue due to the Crown.<\/p>\n<p>The Revenue Commissioners were the larger and more important revenue collectors.\u00a0 They supervised the Customs and Excise, the Quit Rent Office and Forfeiture Office.\u00a0 The Stamps Office was founded in 1773, the Post Office in 1784 and the Lottery Office in 1782.<\/p>\n<p>The Revenue, by the end of the 18th century had about 3000 employees including legal advisers, collectors, surveyors, officers, clerks, hearth money collectors, and boatmen.\u00a0 They were based in the new Dublin Custom house.<\/p>\n<p>The Revenue Commissioners and revenue apparatus were the subject of criticism and investigation with allegations of corruption and inefficiency on a number of occasions by the Irish Parliament.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Accounting_for_Public_Money\"><\/span>Accounting for Public Money<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The two accounting departments were the Commissioner of Accounts and the Lord Commissioners of the Treasury.\u00a0 The first department was established in 1761 and audited important offices.\u00a0 Later in the century they were empowered to require accounts from person who received public money. The Commissioners of the Treasury sanctioned and checked public expenditure.<\/p>\n<p>Following protest by the Irish Parliament, a 1795 Act provided for a Treasury Board to be responsible for the receipt and issue of public money.\u00a0 In practice the Treasury Board did not play a probing role and \u00a0undertook routine functions only, before being merged with the UK department in the early 19th century.<\/p>\n<p>Members of Parliament were often country gentlemen who were happy to use public money to improve infrastructure benefiting their estates.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The grand jury comprised leading landlords and representatives. The grand jury undertook the initial stage of serious criminal offences.\u00a0 It also was the forum for county business.\u00a0 It fixed the local tax or county cess.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The basic revenue, the hearth tax was collected by collectors appointed centrally.\u00a0 The parish remained a significant part of the administration as well as being the basic ecclesiastical division of the Church of Ireland.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Parliament had the exclusive role in raising revenue.\u00a0 Hereditary revenue comprised ground rents and quits rents principally derived from confiscations following the nine-year war and the 1641 rebellion, customs duties and licences for alcohol sales.\u00a0 After the restoration, hereditary revenue was a granted to the Crown for specific governmental purposes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The late 17th and early 18th century were marked by expensive wars for which the hereditary revenue proved inadequate.\u00a0 The shortfall was met by loans with temporary additional duties and taxes.\u00a0 The national debt increased significantly in the early 18th century.\u00a0 By the end of the century, revenue barely serviced the debt.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The hereditary revenue of the Crown grew in great measure after the rebellions of the 1640s.\u00a0 The lands which were forfeited are not reserved by the Act of Settlement were bestowed on soldiers, undertakers, and adventurers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The older forms of Crown property arising from forfeiture of land such as on treason were abolished and a new hereditary revenue was settled by Parliament.\u00a0 It was derived from several sources including Crown rents arising from religious confiscations of the mid-16th century and from the six counties forfeited after the nine year\u2019s war and the flight of the Earls (Donegal, Cavan , Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Armagh).The quit rents had their origins in the confiscations following the 1641 rebellion.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hearth-money was first imposed under Charles II. For many years this revenue was sufficient for the civil and military purposes of government and no parliament was convoked in the latter half of the 17th century.\u00a0 Besides the Parliament convoked by James II, the parliament of 1692 was the first since the restoration in 1660.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The increase of military expenditure required, and the insufficiency of hereditary revenue necessitated convoking parliament. Substantial debt became an element of the national finance.\u00a0 Parliaments were summonsed every second year in the early 18th century and its power gradually grew.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Irish parliament exercised a partial and incomplete control over finances.\u00a0 It claimed the sole right of originating money bills.\u00a0 The English Parliament repeatedly exercised the right of binding Ireland by legislation without the concurrence of the Irish parliament.\u00a0 It would refrain from taxing.<\/p>\n<p>Grand Jury presentments were confirmed by the judges of assize.\u00a0 In this capacity, they acted as part of the administration.\u00a0 Judges also kept the central government informed of local conditions and sentiment.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Court of Exchequer was nominally responsible for revenue.\u00a0 One part comprised a court of law and equity in \u00a0which revenue actions could be heard. \u00a0Another part comprised the public treasury.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Deputy Vice Treasurer performed the functions of the Receiver General, Paymaster General, and was responsible for the issue and receipt of currencies and revenue.\u00a0 The Teller of the Exchequer \u00a0was this cashier in the office of the Receiver General.\u00a0 He received revenue and made payments.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The task of collection of revenue lay with the Commissioners of Revenue, Customs and Excise.<\/p>\n<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-251\" data-postid=\"251\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-251 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Revenue At the end of the 18th century most revenue was raised from customs and excise.\u00a0 Excise duties covered a wide range of goods and materials including hearths, windows, mould, paper, leather , coaches, and even male servants. There were licence duties and tax on a wide variety of matters and things such as hearts, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":275,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions\/275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}