98 Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014
slaughterhouses to fi nance a service provided to
farmers- Fees where government is not providing a spe-
cifi c service commensurate with the levy even
though a license may be issued to the payer, such
as a hunting, fi shing, or shooting license that
is not accompanied by the right to use specifi c
government-owned natural resources - Fees where benefi ts are received only by those
paying the fee but the benefi ts received by each
individual are not necessarily in proportion to
the payments, such as a milk marketing levy paid
by dairy farmers and used to promote the con-
sumption of milk - Fees paid to government for deposit insur-
ance and other guarantee schemes if they are
compulsory—that is, if benefi ciaries cannot opt
out of the scheme, if the payment is clearly out
of proportion to the service provided, if the pay-
ment is not set aside in a fund, or if it can be used
for other purposes.^24
5.75 Although taxes in this category are levied
on the use of goods rather than on the ownership or
transactions in goods, registration of the ownership of
goods may generate the tax claim. For example, regis-
tration of the ownership of animals or motor vehicles
may be the event that causes a tax on the use of these
items to be assessed. Taxes on the use of goods may
apply even to functionally unusable goods, such as an-
tique motor vehicles or guns.
Boundary with taxes on business activities levied on diff erent bases
5.76 Boundary cases arise with taxes on busi-
ness activities, which are levied on a combined
income, payroll, or turnover base. If it is possible
to estimate receipts related to each base, then the
total should be allocated among the bases. If sepa-(^24) If the fees are proportional to the cost of the service provided,
they constitute a payment for an insurance-type transaction, in
which case it will be classifi ed as a premium in the category pre-
miums, fees, and claims related to nonlife insurance and standard-
ized guarantee schemes (145). Th e criterion of proportionality
between payments and provision of an insurance-type of service
(including payments for the risk element) should be examined
on a case-by-case basis. Th e existence of an institutional unit
with a full set of accounts operating a fund that functions on in-
surance rules may indicate that the payment is for an insurance-
type of service.
rate amounts cannot be estimated, but it is known
that most of the receipts are derived from one base,
then the whole of the receipts are classified accord-
ing to that base.
Boundaries with other tax categories
5.77 Boundary cases arise with taxes on the owner-
ship or use of property that could be classifi ed as re-
current taxes on immovable property (1131), recurrent
taxes on net wealth (1132), or other recurrent taxes
on property (1136). Unlike the taxes under this item
(category 1145), category 1131 is confi ned to taxes
on the ownership or tenancy of immovable property
and such taxes are usually a percentage of the assessed
property value. Th e taxes included in categories 1132
and 1136 are confi ned to ownership rather than use of
assets, apply to groups of assets rather than particular
goods, and are based on the value of assets.Boundary with the acquisition or use of an asset
5.78 Boundary cases arise with the payments for li-
censes to make use of a natural resource. If the natural
resource qualifi es as an asset and the government con-
trols it on behalf of the community, payments for the
license could be recorded as the disposal of the asset
when government surrenders economic control of the
asset and the life span of the license and the life span
of the asset are the same. If the license agreement is re-
corded as the sale of an asset in its own right, it should
be recorded as the disposal of an asset in the category
of contracts, leases, and licenses (31441). A license for
the use of the natural resource itself for a fi nite pe-
riod does not refl ect a disposal of an asset and should
be classifi ed as rent (see paragraph 5.124). Licenses
to permit the use of natural resources not under the
control of government will be treated as a tax (clas-
sifi ed under this item) in all other cases except if the
license is legally and practically transferable to a third
party, in which case it should be classifi ed as an asset
in the category of contracts, leases, and licenses (see
paragraphs A4.54–A4.55).
5.79 Taxes on use of goods and on permission to use
goods or perform activities (1145) are subdivided into
motor vehicle taxes (11451) and other taxes on the use
of goods and on the permission to use goods or perform
activities (11452), while several subcategories of taxes
are identifi able in the latter (see Table 5.4).