The Anti-Monopoly Party was an American political party formed on May the 14th 1884 at Chicago, demanding economical government, equitable laws, including an Interstate Commerce law, laws establishing labour bureaus and providing industrial arbitration, direct vote for senators, graduated income tax, payment of the national debt as it matures, and 'fostering-care' for agriculture, and denouncing the tariff and the granting of land to corporations. The Anti-Monopoly Party later joined with the Green-Back Labour party to form the 'People's Party'. Research Anti-Monopoly Party
The Ocala Platform of the Farmers' Alliance congress was an American 19th century political group formed on December the 8th, 1890. It demanded the abolition of national banks; the establishment of sub-treasuries which should lend money directly to the people at low rates of interest; free coinage of silver; low tariff; the prohibition of alien ownership of land, and a graduated income tax. The group were so called from the place of meeting, Ocala, Florida. Research Ocala Platform
The People's Party was an American political organisation organized during the National Union Conference at Cincinnati, on May the 19th, 1891, and formed chiefly from the various Farmers' Alliances. A national committee was appointed to look after the interests of the new organization, and the platform of the Farmers' Alliance was indorsed advocating free silver; the sub-treasury plan; equal taxation; revenues limited to the necessity of the Government; a graduated income tax;
the election of President, Vice-President and Senate by a direct vote of the people; and prohibition of alien ownership of land. The National Convention at Omaha, Nebraska on July the 2nd, 1893, nominated James B Weaver, of Iowa, for President, and James G Field, of Virginia, for Vice-president. James B Weaver obtained a popular vote of 1,030,128 and an electoral vote of twenty-three. Research People's Party
Sir Kingsley Wood was an English Conservative politician. He was born in 1881 at London and died in 1943. After training as a solicitor he entered parliament as Conservative MP for Woolwich West in 1918, was knighted in 1919 and after holding several junior ministerial posts was Postmaster-General from 1931 to 1935, Minister of Health from 1935 to 1938 and Secretary of State for Air from 1938 to 1940, overseeing Britain's Air Force during the start of the Second World War. From 1940 to 1943 he was Chancellor of the Exchequer and introduced the PAYE (pay-as-you-earn) system of income tax. Research Kingsley Wood
Ability-to-pay taxation is a form of taxation in which taxes are levied on the basis of the taxpayers' ability to pay. This form of taxation leads to the view that as income or wealth increases, its marginal utility decreases so that progressive rates of tax can be levied on the higher slices. Typical taxes of this sort in Britain are income tax and inheritance tax. Research Ability-to-pay taxation
In business, accumulating shares are ordinary shares issued to holders of ordinary shares in a company, instead of a dividend. Accumulating shares are a way of replacing annual income with capital growth; they avoid income tax but not capital-gains tax. Usually tax is deducted by the company from the declared dividend, in the usual way, and the net dividend is then used to buy additional ordinary shares for the shareholder. Research Accumulating shares
In business, an accumulation unit is a unit in an investment trust in which dividends are ploughed back into the trust, after deducting income tax, enabling the value of the unit to increase. It is usually linked to a life- assurance policy. Research Accumulation Unit
Advance corporation tax (ACT) is a feature of the imputation system of taxation that has applied in Britain since 1972. When dividends (or other distributions) are made by UK companies to their shareholders, the companies must account to the Inland Revenue for advance corporation tax at a rate that would equal the basic rate of income tax on a figure consisting of the distribution plus the ACT. Thus, if the basic rate of income tax is 30%, the rate of ACT would be 3/7, so that a dividend of œ700 with its ACT of 3/7 x œ 700 = œ300 would total œ1000, on which the tax at 30% would be œ300 (the amount of the ACT). The ACT thus paid serves two purposes: (1) it is a payment on account of the individual shareholder's personal income tax on the dividend, and (2) for the paying company it constitutes a payment on account of that company' s corporation tax for the period in which the dividend is paid. There are limits to the amount of ACT that may be set against corporation tax liabilities for any given period. Unrelieved ACT may
also be carried backwards or forwards or surrendered to other companies. Research Advance Corporation Tax
Benefits in kind (income in kind) are remuneration other than wages and salaries; they include company cars, free lunches, health insurance, cheap loans, etc. In an economy in which the main form of taxation is an income tax, benefits in kind become common because, without special provisions, they avoid tax. There is usually therefore a substantial body of legislation to enable the authorities to tax these benefits. Research Benefits in Kind
A building society is a financial institution that accepts deposits, upon which it pays interest, and makes loans for house purchase or house improvement secured by mortgages. They developed from the Friendly Society movement in the late 17th century and are 'non-profit' making - the reality however is that the directors receive large sums of money in wages and bonuses.
The early building Societies were joint-stock benefit societies for the purpose of raising by periodical subscriptions a fund to assist members in obtaining small portions of landed property and houses, which were mortgaged to the society until the amount of the shares drawn on was fully repaid with interest. These societies were divided into two sections: the Proprietary and the Mutual Societies. The former class took money on deposit, paying a somewhat higher rate of interest than could generally be had on money available at call, and gave loans for building purposes, or the like, repayable by instalments. The profit of the company lay in the difference between the rate charged to borrowers and the rate paid to depositors.
The Mutual Societies were of two chief kinds, either limited to a certain term of years and confined to a certain number of members, or permanent, and not confined to any definite number of members, but ready to receive new members as long as the society existed. A favourite form of terminating society allotted its capital among the members, according to the number of shares they held, by ballot. The subscriptions were paid weekly or monthly, and on securing an 'appropriation' the member repaid this sum very much as he would have paid his rent, over a term of years, at the end of which the house or land became his own. He also maintained his small subscription, and at the winding-up of the society was entitled to a share of the profits.
Terminable societies were giving place to the permanent kind by 1910. These, by the constant admission of new members, have a constant supply of funds at their disposal, and are thus able to supply the demands of all the borrowers; while the security offered to investors induces many people to enter the society merely with the view of having a convenient means of depositing their savings, and not with the intention of acquiring any real property for themselves.
Building societies are regulated by the Building Society Act (1986). The societies accept deposits into a variety of accounts, which offer different interest rates and different withdrawal terms, or into 'shares', which often require longer notice of withdrawal. Interest on all building- society accounts is paid net of income tax, the society paying the tax direct to the Inland Revenue. The societies attract both large and small savers, with average holdings being about 5000 pounds.
Loans made to persons wishing to purchase property are usually repaid by regular monthly instalments of capital and interest over a number of years. Another method, which is growing in popularity, is an endowment mortgage in which the capital remains unpaid until the maturity of an assurance policy taken out on the borrower's life; in these arrangements only the interest and the premiums on the assurance policy are paid during the period of the loan. Since the 1986 Act, building societies have been able to widen the range of services they offer; this has enabled them to compete with the high-street banks in many areas. They offer cheque accounts, which pay interest on all credit balances, cash cards, credit cards, loans, money transmission, foreign exchange, personal financial planning services (shares, insurance, pensions, etc.), estate agency, and valuation and conveyancing services.
The distinction between banks and building societies is fast disappearing, indeed many building societies have obtained the sanction of their members to become public limited companies. These changes have led to the merger of many building societies to provide a national network that can compete with the Big Four banks. Competition is well illustrated in the close relationship of interest rates between banks and building societies as they both compete for the market's funds. Moreover, the competition provided by the building societies has forced the banks into offering free banking services, paying interest on current accounts, and Saturday opening. Research Building Society
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Anti-Monopoly Party
