Revenue Stamps

Q:  What are "REVENUE" stamps?

A:  Revenue stamps (sometimes also known as "fiscal" stamps) are/were issued by various countries, counties, cities & municipalities to pay for various taxes and fees.   Putting a revenue stamp on the article, receipt or document indicated that the appropriate fees had been paid (or in some cases to indicate that the items was tax or duty-free).

Many people that collect postage stamps also collect revenue stamps.   While many revenue stamps "look" like postage stamps, they are a totally separate category and generally have nothing to do with postage stamps as such (except in some countries, mostly British Colonies, where stamps did double-duty and they are marked "Postage & Revenue").

Collecting revenue stamps is a fun hobby.   While the stamps themselves are interesting, I personally find that collecting them on the original document is far more interesting.

Here in the USA, revenue stamps have been issued by the federal governement, as well as the individual states, county & city governments for a large variety of reasons, some of which are listed below:

• Stock transfer
• Consular services
• Title transfer fees
• Motor vehicle registration
• .... and hundreds of additional varieties, most of which are listed in the Scott's Specialized catalog of US stamps.   Most state revenue stamps are listed in the "Hubbard" catalog (which is presently out of print).  This catalog has recently been updated by the State Revenue Society and is now over 700 page in loose leaf format!

Many foreign countries have also issued revenue stamps.  Most of these are "documentary" type of stamps and were affixed to various "documents", such as property deeds, bills-of-ladings, store receipts, etc.   Currently, the most widely used revenue stamps are "airport tax" stamps.   In many foreign countries, you have to pay a "departure tax", proof of which is a stamp (although sometimes just a plain receipt) that is attached to the back of your airplane boarding pass.  This is a very popular way for smaller and poorer nations to earn income, especially those in the Caribbean & Africa.   As time permits, I will post scans of these type of stamps on this site (http://www.freewebs.com/revenuestamps/images.htm).   Technically, you pay a departure/airport tax here in the USA as well, but it is generally buried in your airfare fees and you do not get a separate stamp on your boarding pass.  

If you travel enough, obtaining revenue stamps may be very easy (and at no extra cost to you).   A few years ago, I was on the island of St. Kitts (Caribbean) and I purchased a postcard from a souvenir shop.  The receipt that I was given had a 10c postage stamp on it to indicate that I paid some sort of tax on that card!    In 1993 I was on the island of St. Vincent and purchased a bottle of beer at a grocery store; on the back of the receipt was a stamp affixed !

St. Vincent bisected "3d." Revenue stamp

A partial listing of catalogs that listed revenue stamps is shown below:

• Scott's Specialized US Stamp catalog (US Federal revenue stamps only)
• Hubbard State Catalog (US State revenue stamps only)(out of print)
• State Revenue Society (US State Revenue stamps only) 
• Barefoot & Hall (Great Britain & British Commonwealth revenue).  A 2008 version is currently being printed and can be purchased directly from the company at www.jbarefoot.co.uk once it is available 
• Barefoot & Hall (certain selected countries)
• ESJ van Dam Canada Revenue catalog (www.esjvandam.com)
• There are also numerous specialized catalogs for published for various countries by small publishers and individuals; too many to list here; you may want to check the American Philatelic Research Library (Altoona, PA) at http://www.stamps.org/TheLibrary/lib_cardcatalog.htm .   Local libraries generally carry the Scott Stamp catalogs, and there are also larger philatelic libraries located in Dallas (Wineburgh Philatelic Library at UTD in Richardson), Denver, Portland, near Boston and a couple of others.

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