David Ricardo：On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, Excerpt 192

In England this policy has been neglected, in taxing the probates of wills, in the legacy duty, and in all taxes affecting the transference of property from the dead to the living. If a legacy of 1000_l._ be subject to a tax of 100_l._, the legatee considers his legacy as only 900_l._, and feels no particular motive to save the 100_l._ duty from his expenditure, and thus the capital of the country is diminished; but if he had really received 1000_l._ and had been required to pay 100_l._ as a tax on income, on wine, on horses, or on servants, he would probably have diminished, or rather not increased his expenditure by that sum, and the capital of the country would have been unimpaired.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33310
Locator：Excerpt 192 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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