Receipt, an acknowledgment in writing of having received a sum of money, which is prima facie but not conclusive evidence of payment, Skaife v. Jackson, (1824) 3 B&C 421.
The act of receiving something; a written acknow-ledgment that something has been received, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn.
A stamp duty first imposed in 1783 was progressively ad valorem, until 1853, when the uniform 1d. rate was imposed; this was increased to 2d. by the Finance Act, 1920.
For the purposes of the Stamp Act, 1891, the expression 'receipt' is defined (s. 101) as including--
(1) Any note, memorandum, or writing whereby any money amounting to two pounds or upwards, or any bill of exchange or promissory note for money amounting to two pounds or upwards, is acknow-ledged or expressed to have been received or deposited or paid, or whereby any debt or demand, or any part of a debt or demand, of the amount of two pounds or upwards, is acknowledged to have been settled, satisfied, or discharged, or which signifies or imports any such acknowledgment, and whether the same is or is not signed with the name of any person.
And it is added that:-
(2) The duty upon a receipt may be denoted by an adhesive stamp, which is to be cancelled [see s. 8] by the person to whom the receipt is given before he delivers it out of his hands.
The receipt form sometimes indorsed upon a cheque or other bill of exchanges requires a 2d. stamp under this section, Midland Bank v. Inland Rev. Commissrs., (1927) 2 KB 465.
A receipt may also be stamped with an impressed stamp.
S.102 provides for stamping after execution, on penalties, and s. 103 enacts that:-
If any person--
(1) Gives a receipt liable to duty and not duly stamped; or
(2) In any case where a receipt would be liable to duty refuses to give a receipt duly stamped; or
(3) Upon a payment to the amount of two pounds or upwards gives a receipt for a sum not amounting to two pounds, or separates or divides the amount paid with intent to evade the duty;he shall incur a fine of ten pounds.
There are fifteen exemptions under the heading of 'receipt' set out in the schedule, among which is a receipt given for or on account of salary, pay or wages (14 & 15 Geo. 5, c. 21, s. 36), and now also a receipt of consideration money and for sums recovered by way of compensation under the (English) Workmen's Compensation Act, 1925; see the (English) Finance Act, 1930 (20 & 21 Geo. 5, c. 28), s. 44.
The signature of counsel for a fee marked on his brief, though the fee is purely honorary, is a receipt and must be stamped, General Council of the Bar v. I.R.C., (1907) 1 KB 462.
Receipt includes any note, memorandum or writing--
(a) whereby any money, or any bill of exchange, cheque or promissory note is acknowledged to have been received, or
(b) whereby any other movable property is acknowledged to have been received in satisfaction of a debt, or
(c) whereby any debt or demand, or any part of debt or demand, is acknowledged to have been satisfied or discharged, or
(d) which signifies or imports any such acknow-ledgement, and whether the same is or is not signed with the name of any person. [Indian Stamp Act, 1899, s. 2(23)]
Receipt, is construed as the tender of the letter by the postal peon at the address mentioned in the letter, M.P. Rajya Beej Ewam Farm Vikas Nigam v. Durga Transport Service, 1996 Jab LJ 146.