There are separate valuations for imports and exports.
There is no provision for a general periodic assessment, but a state tax commissioner appointed by the governor, treasurer and comptroller assesses the corporations, and the county commissioners (in the counties) and the appeal tax court (in the city of Baltimore) revise valuations of real property every two years.
The tendency is for property valuations to decline, the estimated valuation from 1873 to 1893 decreasing 27% in Cook county and 39% in the other counties, while the assessments from 1888 to 1898 were in inverse ratio to the increase of wealth.
The tariff is nominally ad valorem, but as the rates are imposed on fixed official valuations it is essentially specific. The duties on imports in 1905 amounted to 91,321,860 pesos, and in 1906 to 10 3,5 0 7,55 6 pesos.
According to official returns, the real-estate valuations in 1903-1904 aggregated 1, 777, 21 7,7 0 4 pesos, of which 1,020,609,215 pesos were in urban and 754,608,489 pesos in rural property.