Mechanical Copyright Stamps

6. Purchase Tax Stamps

Purchase Tax was introduced in Great Britain on 21st October 1940 as part of the taxing of Luxuries during wartime. The tax was imposed upon the record manufacturers, not the distributers or retailers. It was expressed as a percentage of the Factory (Wholesale) Prices and was imposed at the time the records left the factory and so paid by the retailer. To show what tax had been paid, both the EMI, Decca, Philips, Pye-Nixa and Polydor factories marked their products with encised or raised code letters in the run-out area of the record. Retails could usually return a certain percetnage of unsolds. These returns may then be shipped elsewhere. Quite often there was a change in the Purchase Tax rate between the time of the record being returned and its leaving the factory again. In these cases, records can be found with two (or more) tax codes, or an adhesive stamp may have been added to the label with the appropriate letters. Records exist with up to three adhesive stamps, although more than one is rare. Note that most records don't have any stamps at all..

The table below shows the rates applied during particular times. Sometimes a new stamp was issued even though the tax rate remained unchanged, when the wholesale price of records altered.

This table shows the schedule of tax rates and the stamp details for the EMI group.

Id Imposed Rate Code Colour
Description

A 21 October 1940 33¹/3% T TAX black
Tax

B 15 April 1942 66²/3% DT black
Double Tax

C 14 April 1943 100% TT dark blue
Triple Tax

D 10 April 1946 33¹/3% ST dark green
Single Tax

E 13 November 1947 50% LT orange
Late Autumn Tax?

F 9 April 1948 66²/3% DT mauve
Double Tax

G
30 December 1950
66²/3% AT
red
price increase

H 16 April 1953 50% NT NP N orange-red
unknown

I 28 October 1955 60% RT dark green
Revised Tax?

J
1 June 1957
60%
XT
blue
price increase

K
1 October 1958
60%
UT
green
price reduction on 7ER

L
8 April 1959
50%
ET
purple
Purchase Tax reduction

M
1 August 1960
50%
WT
brown
price changes

N
26 July 1961
55%
OT
red
Purchase Tax increase

O
10 April 1962
45%
ZT
grey
Purchase Rax reduction

P
26 November 1962
45%
PT
green
price changes

Q
1 January 1963
25%
MT
pale blue
Purchase Tax reduction

R
1 July 1963
25%
KT
pink
price changes

S
21 July 1966
27¹/2%

No stamp

T
20 March 1968
50%

No stamp

U
23 November 1968
55%

No stamp

V
20 July 1971
45%

No stamp

W
21 March 1972
25%

No stamp

After 31 March 1973, VAT was introduced.

Records made for the Government or for Export were Exempt from Tax. Up to 100 pressings from the same Matrix made for sale in Britain were exempt from 10th August 1948, as were "pressings made for a single client or organisation in which the copyright will be retained by them".

For reasons unknown, the Decca group did not use DT during the second period of the 66²/3% rate, but used instead CT from April 1948 to the end of 1949, and the IP or +IP until April 1953 printed on the record label or impressed in the run-out. Note that the Decca stamps below are inscribed PI and +PI - the reason for this reversal is unknown. They also used AP during 1955, again for reasons unknown.

1. Stamps on EMI recordings (usually HMV classical recordings, rarely Columbia)

a) Earliest series

b) Later series. All printed by Harrisons, watermarked. Perf 14x15.

c) Other EMI group items

Subject to Purchase Tax

The "Free of Purchase Tax" stamp was supplied to record dealers by the record manufacturers (The Gramophone Co, Columbia, Parlophone, Decca and Brunswick) prior to the initial introduction so existing record stock could be marked.

2. Stamps on later DECCA recordings

3. Other items

4. Stamps on records

NOTES:

1. The stamps are not common as they appear to have only been applied to cover those records pressed with a letter code from one tax regime but (re-)released from the factory under another. The later items created for stickering only certain classs of records in stock which had a price increase (e.g. XT, UT, KT) are scarcer still.

2. The L/T stamps are for the short period of 13th November 1947 to 8th April 1948, a period of little over 5 months. However, the stamps are fairly frequently met with. This is possibly explained by the fact that the "Late Autumn Tax" came from an emergency budget, and that the recording companies had little warning of the change and thus had to re-tax a larger volume of records than would have normally been the case.

Acknowledgement is made to Peter Copeland's article "Marks on British 78rpm Records", that appeared in 'The Historic Record', number 18, January 1991 and a more recent and comprehensive article "The Purchase Tax Scheme (1940-1973)" by Len Petts and Ruth Edge which appeared in 'For the Record' Spring 2004 (the Journal of the City of London Phonograph and Gramophone Society). Also to Peter Rice for his web site information from the record pressing industry point of view. (www.peterice.com/purchasetax.htm)

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Id	Imposed	Rate	Code	Colour	Description
A	21 October 1940	33¹/3%	T TAX	black	Tax
B	15 April 1942	66²/3%	DT	black	Double Tax
C	14 April 1943	100%	TT	dark blue	Triple Tax
D	10 April 1946	33¹/3%	ST	dark green	Single Tax
E	13 November 1947	50%	LT	orange	Late Autumn Tax?
F	9 April 1948	66²/3%	DT	mauve	Double Tax
G	30 December 1950	66²/3%	AT	red	price increase
H	16 April 1953	50%	NT NP N	orange-red	unknown
I	28 October 1955	60%	RT	dark green	Revised Tax?
J	1 June 1957	60%	XT	blue	price increase
K	1 October 1958	60%	UT	green	price reduction on 7ER
L	8 April 1959	50%	ET	purple	Purchase Tax reduction
M	1 August 1960	50%	WT	brown	price changes
N	26 July 1961	55%	OT	red	Purchase Tax increase
O	10 April 1962	45%	ZT	grey	Purchase Rax reduction
P	26 November 1962	45%	PT	green	price changes
Q	1 January 1963	25%	MT	pale blue	Purchase Tax reduction
R	1 July 1963	25%	KT	pink	price changes
S	21 July 1966	27¹/2%			No stamp
T	20 March 1968	50%			No stamp
U	23 November 1968	55%			No stamp
V	20 July 1971	45%			No stamp
W	21 March 1972	25%			No stamp