The Short Title of this Act is “The Stamp Act Amendment Act, 1906”; and it shall form part of and be read together with “The Stamp Act, 1882” (hereinafter referred to as “the principal Act”).

The Governor may from time to time appoint a Minister of the Crown (being a member of the Executive Council) to be Minister of Stamp Duties, who shall be charged with the general administration of the principal Act.

The Commissioner of Stamps appointed under the principal Act and in office on the coming into operation of this Act shall be deemed to have been appointed Minister of Stamp Duties under this Act.

There shall be a Commissioner of Stamps appointed from time to time by the Governor in Council, who, under the direction of the Minister, shall have the chief control of all matters relating to stamp duties imposed by the principal Act.

The Secretary for Stamps in office on the coming into operation of this Act shall be the Commissioner under this Act, and the office of Secretary shall be deemed to have been abolished.

In the construction of the principal Act and all other Acts relating to the Commissioner of Stamps references to the Commissioner shall be deemed to be references to the Minister, and all references to a Deputy Commissioner shall include the Commissioner under this Act.

Section two of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing the definition of “Commissioner,” and section eight of the same Act is hereby repealed.

All notices required under the principal Act or “The Deceased Persons’ Estates Duties Act, 1881,” to be served on the Minister may be served by delivery at the office of the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner acting in the place where the subject-matter of the notices arises.

There shall be payable by the transferee on any transfer of shares in a mining company not on actual sale a duty of ten shillings.

In every appeal under section fifty-five of the principal Act the costs of the appeal shall be in the discretion of the Court, having regard to the extent to which the Minister’s assessment exceeds the amount admitted by the appellant before the appeal was commenced and the extent to which the Minister’s assessment is sustained or otherwise.

The said section fifty-five is hereby consequentially amended by repealing the words “together with the costs incurred by him in relation to the appeal” in subsection four, and also by repealing all the words of subsection five down to and including “Provided that.”

The heading to sections sixty-five and sixty-six of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing the words “and Awards.”

Section ninety-nine of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding thereto the following subsection:—

The Third Schedule to the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting therein the following:—

The said Third Schedule is hereby further amended by inserting under the heading of “Annual License,” after the words “or elsewhere,” the following proviso:—

Any Collector of Customs may, if he thinks fit, require any person acting or appearing to act as the representative of any company, before passing entries at the Customs for any goods imported into New Zealand, to produce the annual license of such company or a certificate under the hand of the Commissioner that the company is exempt from such annual license, and may refuse to pass entries for such goods until such requisition is complied with.

In the assessment of real property for duty under “The Deceased Persons’ Estates Duties Act, 1881,” the value of such property shall in every case be the value as at the date of the death according to a valuation agreed on by the Minister and the parties assessed or made as at that date by the Valuer-General in accordance with the provisions of section six of “The Government Valuation of Land Act Amendment Act, 1903.”

The following enactments are hereby repealed:—

Where pursuant to any custom of trade receipts are given in sets, it shall be sufficient if one only of a set is stamped:

Provided that the parts not stamped be clearly and distinctly marked at the time when the receipt is given, showing that they respectively form part of a set.

Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds who—

In the case of a lease at a specified rental for a specified period or series of periods, with provision for the rent subsequent to the last such period being fixed by valuation or otherwise, the duty shall be assessed on the highest fixed rental specified in such lease; and if the new rental, when fixed by valuation or otherwise as aforesaid, exceeds the rental upon which duty was originally assessed, duty on the excess shall then be payable, and the instrument of lease shall then be presented for assessment accordingly in like manner and subject to the like provisions as to fine and otherwise as in the case of the original assessment.

Section three of “The Stamp Acts Amendment Act, 1895,” shall be construed subject to this section.