British India Steam Navigation Co v Inland Revenue Commissioners (1881) 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.

Judgment 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.(1881) 7 QBD 165, 172. See also L Sealy and S Worthington, Cases and Materials in Company Law (8th edn OUP 2008) 460

See also

UK insolvency law

Notes

References L Sealy and S Worthington, Cases and Materials in Company Law (8th edn OUP 2008) 460