Ray's New Practical Arithmetic · Arts. 210–212 · Unit 21: Taxes
100. United States revenue: internal revenue and duties
Goal: Your child knows where the federal government's money came from in 1877 and computes specific and ad valorem duties.
You'll need
- Paper and pencil, or a slate or small whiteboard
What's in the book
Page 273 begins United States Revenue (Art. 210). Page 274 has internal revenue problems (Art. 211) and starts Duties or Customs (Art. 212), and page 275 finishes it with problems. Answers are printed.
The lesson, step by step
Warm-up
Ask: When something is shipped here from another country, who might want to charge a fee on it?
The idea
The United States Revenue arises wholly from indirect taxation; it consists of Internal Revenue and the revenue from Duties or Customs.
Duties or Customs are taxes on goods imported from foreign countries.
There was no federal income tax in 1877; that came much later.
Internal revenue problems
Work two together from page 274: public land sold at $1.25 an acre (a township is 36 square miles), and the tax on 40 gallons of spirits at 70 cents a gallon.
Duties
An ad valorem duty is levied upon the cost of the goods.
A specific duty is charged by the quantity (so much a pound). Before a specific duty, an allowance is taken off for waste ("draft") and for the box or cask ("tare").
Duties must be paid in coin.
The dutiable value upon which the duty is estimated, is always the nearest exact number of dollars, pounds, etc.
Independent practice and check
Your child works the duty problems on page 275. Some need English, French or German money changed to dollars first, from the Exchange guide. The book prints the answer at the end of each problem line. Have your child cover the answers with a strip of paper, work the problem, then slide the strip down to check.
Mental-math wrap-up
Aloud: 20% duty on $50 of goods; 2 cents a pound on 300 lb.