Henry St George Tucker (1772-1851), who became a director of the East India Company, prepared this report following a claim by a French economist that the British possession of India was a burden to the mother country. First published in 1825, this work offers insights into the profitability of colonialism.

Henry St George Tucker (1772?51) sailed to India in 1786 and worked in a number of administrative posts before becoming a director of the East India Company in 1826. He wrote this book following the publication of an essay by French economist Jean-Baptiste Say (1767?32) which suggested that British possession of territories in India was a burden to the mother country. Tucker's aim with this work was to give an accurate report of the finances of the East India Company in order to show Say's claim to be false. First published in 1825, this book contains an analysis of the company's sources of revenue and gives the details of revenue raised from opium, salt, stamps and land taxes. It includes information on the revenue raised from different territories and finally concludes with an overview of the company's general finances, thus providing valuable data for the study of colonial economics.