British India Steam Navigation Co v IRC

British India Steam Navigation Co v Inland Revenue Commissioners 7 QBD 165 is a case relevant for UK commercial law and UK insolvency law case, concerning the definition of a debenture.

Facts

The British India Steam Navigation Company had undertaken on paper to pay the holder £100 on 30 November 1882 and pay interest half yearly at 5% pa. The paper said these were “debentures”. Meanwhile, the Stamp Act 1870, a taxation statute, said that “debentures” were subject to a higher rate of stamp duty. The company then tried to argue that in fact these were not debentures at all, and merely a “promissory note”. A. V. Dicey and Farrer Herschell QC appeared for the Revenue.

Lindley J held that the instruments were debentures and therefore subject to stamp duty. They were debentures because they were documents that acknowledged a debt.