LICENSE, of Excise. is a legal document granting permission to deal in certain specified articles of trade. A license is granted annually on application and on payment of the duty, except in cases where an abuse of privilege has been proven. Public-house licenses were granted in England as early as Edward VI. (1551); since which period this mode of imposing duty on excisable articles has been carried into several departments of trade. The annual revenue from licenses now exceeds £1,000,000.

The following (from The Business Man's Note-Book for 1857) is a list of the trades which cannot be carried on in Great Britain without a license, specifying also the rate of license per annum:—

Auctioneers ..... £10 0 0
Brewers of table-beer only—
  Not above 20 barrels ..... 0 10 6
  ... 50 ... .. 1 1 0
  ... 100 ... .. 1 11 6
  Above 100 ... .. 2 2 0
Brewers of strong beer—
  Not above 20 barrels ..... 0 10 6
  ... 50 ... .. 1 1 0
  ... 100 ... .. 1 11 6
  ... 1,000 ... .. 2 2 0
  ... 2,000 ... .. 3 3 0
  ... 5,000 ... .. 7 17 6
  ... 7,500 ... .. 11 16 3
  ... 10,000 ... .. 15 15 0
  ... 20,000 ... .. 31 10 0
  ... 30,000 ... .. 47 5 0
  ... 40,000 ... .. 63 0 0
  Above 40,000 ... .. 78 15 0
Brewers using sugar ..... 1 0 0
Brewers for sale by retail, not to be consumed on the premises ..... 5 10 3
Sellers of beer only, not being brewers ..... 3 6 1
Beer retailers (publicans) whose premises are rated under £20 per annum (England and Ireland only) ..... 1 2 0
At £20, or upwards ..... 3 6 1
Retailers of beer, cider, and perry, under 4th and 5th Will. IV., cap. 35, to be drunk on the premises (England only) ..... 3 6 1
Not to be drunk on the premises ..... 1 2 0
Retailers of cider and perry only ..... 1 2 0
Retailers of beer, cider, or perry, whose premises are rated under £10 per annum (Scotland only) ..... 2 10 0
At £10 per annum, or upwards ..... 4 4 0
Dealers in coffee, tea, cocoa-nuts, chocolate, or pepper ..... 0 11 6
Maltsters making not above 50 quarters ..... £0 7 10 License.
  ... 100 ... .. 0 16 9
  ... 150 ... .. 1 3 7
  ... 200 ... .. 1 11 6
  ... 250 ... .. 1 19 4
  ... 300 ... .. 2 7 3
  ... 350 ... .. 2 15 1
  ... 400 ... .. 3 3 0
  ... 450 ... .. 3 10 10
  ... 500 ... .. 3 18 9
  ... 550 ... .. 4 6 7
  Above 550 ... .. 4 14 6
Beginners (and a surcharge) ..... 0 7 10
  Not above 5 quarters ..... 0 2 7
Malt roasters ..... 20 0 0
Dealers in roasted malt ..... 10 0 0
Paper—every maker of paper or pasteboard ..... 4 4 0
Passage vessels on board which liquors or tobacco are sold ..... 1 1 0
Postmasters' (Great Britain) licenses to let horses for hire—
  Persons keeping 1 horse and 1 carriage ..... 7 10 0
  ... 2 ... 2 ... .. 12 10 0
  ... 4 ... 3 ... .. 20 0 0
  ... 8 ... 6 ... .. 30 0 0
  ... 12 ... 9 ... .. 40 0 0
  ... 16 ... 12 ... .. 50 0 0
  ... 20 ... 15 ... .. 60 0 0
  Above 15 ... .. 70 0 0
Above 20 horses, then for every additional 10 horses, or less than 10, over 20, or any other multiple of 10 horses, the additional duty of ..... 10 0 0
Postmasters (Ireland) ..... 2 2 0
  and 1s. in the £1 thereon .....
To kill game (Ireland) ..... 3 3 0
Race-horse duty ..... 3 17 0
Soap, every maker ..... 4 4 0
Spirits, Distillers ..... 10 10 0
  Rectifiers ..... 10 10 0
  Dealers, not retailers ..... 10 10 0
Spirit-dealers for retailing foreign liquors ..... 2 2 0
Makers of methylated spirits ..... 10 10 0
Makers of stills (Scotland and Ireland) ..... 0 10 6
Chemist, or any other person requiring the use of a still (England) ..... 0 10 0
  ... (Scotland and Ireland) ..... 0 10 6
Retailers of spirits whose premises are rated under £10 per annum (England and Ireland) ..... 2 4 1
  At £10, and under £20 ..... 4 8 2
  ... 20 ... 25 ... .. 6 12 3
  ... 25 ... 30 ... .. 7 14 4
  ... 30 ... 40 ... .. 8 16 4
  ... 40 ... 50 ... .. 9 18 5
  50 or upwards ..... 11 0 6
Retailers of spirits and beer whose premises are rated under £10 per annum (Scotland) ..... 4 4 0
  At £10, and under £20 ..... 5 5 0
  ... 20 ... 25 ... .. 9 9 0
  ... 25 ... 30 ... .. 10 10 0
  ... 30 ... 40 ... .. 11 11 0
  ... 40 ... 50 ... .. 12 12 0
  50 or upwards ..... 13 13 0
Retailers of spirits in Ireland, being duly licensed to sell coffee, tea, &c., whose premises are rated under £25 per annum ..... 9 18 5
  At £25, and under £30 ..... 11 0 6
  ... 30 ... 40 ... .. 12 2 6
  ... 40 ... 50 ... .. 13 4 7
  50 or upwards ..... 14 6 7
Sweets, retailers (United Kingdom) ..... 1 2 0
Tobacco and snuff, and manufacturers of not above 20,000 lb. ..... 5 5 0
  Above 20,000, not above 40,000 lb. .... 10 10 0
  ... 40,000 ... 60,000 ... .. 15 15 0
  ... 60,000 ... 80,000 ... .. 21 0 0
  ... 80,000 ... 100,000 ... .. 25 5 0
  Above 100,000 ..... 31 10 0
Beginners (and a surcharge on the quantity made) ..... 5 5 0
Dealers in tobacco and snuff ..... 0 5 3
Vinegar makers ..... 5 5 0
Dealers in foreign wine, not having licenses for retailing spirits and beer ..... 10 10 0
Dealers having a license for retailing beer, but not spirits ..... 4 8 2
Lichfield Dealers having licenses to retail beer and spirits..... L.2 4 1
Liechtenstein. Grocers who sell wine not to be drunk or consumed on the premises (Scotland), viz.:-
Every grocer having the justices' certificate to retail beer, but not spirits.....
To retail beer and spirits.....
Stage carriage, licensed to run (Great Britain).....
... supplementary license.....
Every mile licensed to travel.....
Hackney carriage, license to keep (London).....
4 8 21
2 4 1
3 3 0
0 1 0
0 0 1
1 0 0