The Average Yield Of The Verghis Tax In The Last Five Years Was
3,521,083 Piastres, Or 30,354 Pounds Per Annum.
The account of the last
year of the series (1877-78) showed a revenue of 3,193,850 piastres, or
27,535 pounds.
The demand for the current year is 3,380,246 piastres, of
which only 518,545 piastres have been recovered up to the present time.
The slackness of the Turkish revenue officials in collecting this tax is
due partly to the change of administration and uncertainty as to future
taxation of the island, and partly to the war tax and other burdens
imposed upon the people during the past year. The needful measures have
now been adopted for effecting recovery, and as the tax affects property
and the well-to-do classes, it is hoped that about 2,000,000 piastres
will be recovered in the next six months. Adding this sum to the
recoveries already effected, the revenue of the entire year is estimated
at 2,552,000 piastres, or 22,000 pounds.
Tax on Exemption from Military Service.
This superseded the capitation tax formerly levied upon Christian
subjects, and other subjects of the Porte who were not Mohammedans, for
exemption from military service. It is a tax of 27 3/4 piastres for each
male inhabitant from twenty to forty years of age, but practically it is
levied upon males below and above the limits of age. Returns of the
numbers coming under this impost are settled between the heads of
villages and the Moukhtars. The latter are required to recover the money
and pay it in twelve monthly instalments into the chest of the sandjak.
The rate of 27 3/4 piastres is equivalent to 5s. per man per annum.
There is no apparent reason why it should not be paid at once and
credited in the Government Treasury immediately on payment.
This tax is unpopular and offensive to those whom it affects throughout
the Turkish dominions. The Greek, Armenian, Bulgarian subjects of the
Porte have protested against it from time to time, but without effect.
Were these declared eligible for military service on the same terms as
Mohammedan subjects, but with the option of providing substitutes, the
impost would be relieved of its invidious character, and perhaps yield a
larger revenue to the State than heretofore. This, however, equally with
the exoneration tax, would be inappropriate in Cyprus under a British
administration, which does not require any considerable proportion of
the population for military service. It is matter for consideration,
therefore, whether this light tax may be continued in some other form.
The average yield of this tax during the past five years was eqivalent
to 12,270 pounds a year. It increased last year, on account of the war,
to 15,110 pounds. But in the current year the recoveries have been
slack, for the reasons stated above in regard to the verghis, and the
estimate is therefore for 1,044,000 piastres, or 9,000 pounds.
Tax on Sheep.
There is a regular enumeration of the sheep and goats throughout every
village in the island during the month of March, and the tax is evied at
the rate of 2 1/2 piastres, or about 6d. per head. The tax is collected
by the Local Government officials, and with proper arrangements should
all be recovered in the month of April, but there are considerable
arrear claims, extending back to several years.
The average revenue derived from this tax in the last five years was
9,854 pounds per annum. The recoveries already made in the current year
amount to 1,187,364 Piastres, or 10,235 pounds. The estimate for the
entire year is taken at 1,276,000 piastres, or 11,000 pounds, and the
realisation of this sum may be expected.
Miscellaneous Revenue.
Under this head are comprised various small taxes, such as the tax on
sales and transfers of landed property, on contracts, on measurements,
on sale of cattle, on swine, stamps, judicial fees and fines, &c. The
average yield of these taxes in the last five years was 767,005
piastres, with an increasing tendency in the later years. The amount
recovered in the first six months of the current year was 743,775
piastres. The estimate for the entire year may therefore be safely taken
at 1,102,000 piastres, or 9,500 pounds.
Customs.
We now come to the indirect taxes. I hope on a future occasion to
describe, more fully than time will allow at present, the effect of the
existing customs tariff in the past, and the modifications that may be
made under British administration in this important branch of the public
revenue, and in the excise on tobacco and spirits. It is sufficient to
say at present that the customs revenue is derived from a duty of 8 per
cent. upon imports and 1 per cent. upon exports, and that the receipts
of the last five years give an average of 981,405 piastres, or 8,460
pounds. The increased population and trade consequent upon the British
occupation of the island have already had a sensible effect upon the
revenue. The collections in the first four months of the current
official year under Turkish rule amounted to 268, 718 piastres, or 2,316
pounds. In the next two months of British administration they amounted
to 305,386 piastres, or 2,632 pounds, being an increase of over 127 per
cent., and that without any change in the tariff or the customs
regulations. A continuance of this rate may safely be reckoned upon for
the next six months, and the revenue of the entire year is therefore
estimated at 1,554,400 piastres, or 13,400 pounds. This estimate takes
account of the probable early abolition of all export duties.
Excise on Tobacco and Spirits.
The receipts of the last five years give an average annual revenue of
6,475 pounds for tobacco and 4,546 pounds for spirits.
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