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In the UK, Her Majesty's Customs and Excise is a department of the British Government. It is responsible for the collection of Value-added tax, Customs Duties, Excise Duties, and other indirect taxes such as Air Passenger Duty, Climate Change Levy, Insurance Premium Tax, Landfill Tax and Aggregates Levy. It is also responsible for managing the import and export of goods and services into the UK.
HM Customs and Excise officers also guard the borders of the United Kingdom from smugglers and illegal immigrants, although their duties in respect of people smuggling are to be transferred to the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
Customs officers are a common sight at entry points in to the UK; their insignia include a portcullis. However, officers have authority throughout the country, including the powers of entry to premises and of arrest.
Customs
The Board of Customs has a very long history. Originally, the term customs meant any customary payments or dues of any kind (for example, to the king, or a bishop, or the church), but later became restricted to duties payable to the king on the import or export of goods. The centralised English customs system can be traced to the Winchester Assize of 1203-4, in the reign of King John, from which time customs were to be collected and paid to the State Treasury. Legislation concerning customs can be traced to King Edward I of England. Under the nova custuma in 1275, Collectors of Customs were appointed by Royal patent and, in 1298, custodes custumae were appointed in certain ports to collect customs for the Crown. The first Customs officers were appointed in 1294, and later on included Geoffrey Chaucer and Richard Whittington (aka Dick Whittington).
A Board of Customs was effectively created by ordinance on 21 January 1643, under which the regulation of the collection of customs was entrusted to a parliamentary committee.
Excise The Board of Excise is not so ancient. Excise duties are inland duties levied on articles at the time of their manufacture, such as alcoholic drinks and tobacco, but duties have also been levied on salt, paper and glass. A Board of Excise was established by the Long Parliament, and Excise Duties first levied, in 1643. The Board of Excise was merged to the existing Board of Taxes and Board of Stamps to create the new Board of Inland Revenue in 1849. Famous Excise Officers include Thomas Paine.
Customs and Excise The combined Board of Customs and Excise was formed in 1909 by the transfer of responsibility for Excise from the Inland Revenue.
HM Customs and Excise is not responsible for collecting direct taxes; this is the job of the Inland Revenue. In March 2004, the O'Donnell review called for the merger of Customs and Excise with Inland Revenue; in the 2004 Budget, Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that the merger would go ahead. The new Department will be called HM Revenue and Customs.
External links - HM Customs & Excise (http://www.hmce.gov.uk/about/ourhistory/timelines.htm)
- HM Customs & Excise National Museum (http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/customs/index.asp)
- Administrative history of Customs & Excise (http://ndad.ulcc.ac.uk/AH/19/detail.html)
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