40:
831:
388:
585:"Nicholas Vansittart was Chancellor when Napoleon was defeated . His inclination was to maintain some tax on income, but public sentiment and the opposition were against him. A year after Waterloo, income tax was repealed ‘with a thundering peal of applause’ and Parliament decided that all documents connected with it should be collected, cut into pieces and pulped."
403:
When the window tax was introduced, it consisted of two parts: a flat-rate house tax of two shillings per house (equivalent to £17.53 in 2023), and a variable tax for the number of windows above ten in the house. Properties with between ten and twenty windows paid an extra four shillings (equivalent
407:
In 1709, with the union of
England and Scotland, taxes were harmonised and a new top rate of 20s total was introduced for houses with 30 or more windows. In 1747 the 2s flat rate was detached from the window tax as a tax in its own right and the way the window tax was calculated was altered. 6d was
399:
At that time, many people in
Britain opposed income tax, on principle, because the disclosure of personal income represented an unacceptable governmental intrusion into private matters, and a potential threat to personal liberty. The first permanent British income tax was not introduced until 1842,
446:
The saying "daylight robbery" is popularly believed to originate with the window tax, but there appears to be no scholarly support for this. Another associated idea is that the tax inspired
Europeans to begin using bricked-up windows, although this is most likely untrue, as blind windows were used
430:
briefly discussed the window tax as one case among various forms of taxation. Smith observed that the tax was relatively inoffensive because its assessment did not require the assessor to enter the residence—a building's windows could be counted from the outside. On the other hand, Smith reported
416:
had to pay a tax of 1/9d per window on the windows of the rooms occupied by staff of the infirmary in 1841—a total of £1 9/9d. Certain rooms, particularly dairies, cheese rooms and milkhouses, were exempt providing they were clearly labelled, and it is not uncommon to find the name of such rooms
438:
In
Scotland, a window tax was imposed after 1748. A house had to have at least seven windows or a rent of at least £5 to be taxed. Windows that have been filled with masonry may have no connection to taxation, but reflect the location of staircases, fireplaces or for purposes of maintaining the
408:
charged for each window in a house with 10–14, 9d for each window in a house with 15–19, 1s for every window in a house with 20 or more. In 1758 the flat rate charge was increased to 3s. The number of windows that incurred tax was changed to seven in 1766 and eight in 1825.
411:
The flat-rate tax was changed to a variable rate, dependent on the property value, in 1778. People who were exempt from paying church or poor rates, for reasons of poverty, were exempt from the window tax. Window tax was relatively unintrusive and easy to assess.
442:
There was a strong agitation in
England in favour of the abolition of the tax during the winter of 1850–51, and it was accordingly repealed on 24 July 1851, and a tax on inhabited houses substituted. The Scottish window tax was abolished at the same time.
417:
carved on the lintel. The bigger the house, the more windows it was likely to have, and the more tax the occupants would pay. Nevertheless, the tax was unpopular, because it was seen by some as a tax on "light and air".
553:"William III, 1695-6: An Act for granting to His Majesty severall Rates or Duties upon Houses for making good the Deficiency of the clipped Money. [Chapter XVIII. Rot. Parl. 7&8 Gul. III. p.5.n.4]"
431:
that others objected to the tax on the grounds of its inequality, since it was thought to have a disproportionate impact on the poor. Smith himself observed that the tax's effect was to lower
866:
368:
it was introduced in 1696 and in
Scotland from 1748. It was repealed in both cases in 1851. In France it was established in 1798 and was repealed in 1926.
911:
360:
in a house. It was a significant social, cultural, and architectural force in
England, France, and Ireland during the 18th and 19th centuries. To
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and was designed to impose tax relative to the prosperity of the taxpayer, but without the controversy that then surrounded the idea of
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to £35.05 in 2023), and those above twenty windows paid an extra eight shillings (equivalent to £70.11 in 2023).
634:
364:, some houses from the period can be seen to have bricked-up window-spaces (which can be (re)glazed later). In
107:
30:
951:
559:. Vol. 7. Great Britain Record Commission, s.l, 1820. pp. 86–94 – via British History Online.
20:
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635:"A tax on light and air: Impact of the Window Duty on Tax Administration and Architecture, 1696-1852"
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19:
For "Windows tax", a term for the cost of
Microsoft Windows preinstalled on a computer, see
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264:
8:
218:
197:
177:
137:
85:
600:
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symmetry of a building facade. A similar tax also existed in France from 1798 to 1926.
187:
152:
92:
706:
531:
365:
249:
233:
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702:
213:
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162:
801:
611:
607:"The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)"
167:
845:
582:
488:
361:
725:
528:
Ancestral Trails: The complete guide to
British genealogy and family history
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192:
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for aesthetic purposes since at least the medieval period, such as on the
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392:
285:
54:
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427:
381:
172:
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830:
452:
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The tax was introduced in
England and Wales in 1696 under King
357:
387:
778:"'Daylight robbery' - the meaning and origin of this phrase"
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and the tax remained controversial into the 20th century.
459:
also bricked up in Europe from the 1600s to avoid taxes.
16:
Property tax based on the number of windows in a house
843:
632:
676:
595:
593:
591:
330:
867:1851 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
395:, with bricked-up spaces in place of windows
168:Various alcohol- and gambling-related duties
802:"The 'visual beauty' of bricked-up windows"
588:
337:
323:
912:History of taxation in the United Kingdom
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603:inflation figures are based on data from
672:. London: William Heinemann. p. 77.
386:
449:Church of Saint John the Baptist, Kerch
844:
525:
696:
604:
751:"Scottish window tax costs revealed"
509:"Scottish window tax costs revealed"
13:
775:
311:Business rates in Northern Ireland
291:Domestic rates in Northern Ireland
224:Land and Buildings Transaction Tax
14:
968:
823:
143:Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings
872:1926 disestablishments in France
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38:
857:1748 establishments in Scotland
794:
769:
743:
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719:
690:
573:(1848), Bk. V, Ch. 3, Section 5
571:Principles of Political Economy
852:1696 establishments in England
726:National Archives of Scotland:
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626:
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545:
519:
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31:Taxation in the United Kingdom
1:
862:1798 establishments in France
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21:Bundling of Microsoft Windows
892:Economic history of Scotland
740:(1911), volume 28, page 713.
391:A house in Portland Street,
7:
882:Economic history of England
668:Brockbank, William (1952).
462:
455:, built in 757 AD. Windows
98:Health and Social Care Levy
10:
973:
887:Economic history of France
728:Guide to taxation records.
639:University of Pennsylvania
414:Manchester Royal Infirmary
371:
306:Business rates in Scotland
18:
927:Legal history of Scotland
897:Economy of Stuart England
633:Andrew E. Glantz (2008).
530:. Sutton Publishing Ltd.
296:Business rates in England
260:Welsh Rates of Income Tax
47:UK Government Departments
937:Architecture in Scotland
917:Legal history of England
583:HM Revenue & Customs
922:Legal history of France
902:Architecture in England
738:Encyclopædia Britannica
605:Clark, Gregory (2017).
526:Herber, Mark D (1997).
356:based on the number of
301:Business rates in Wales
255:Welsh Revenue Authority
670:Portrait of a Hospital
396:
270:Landfill Disposals Tax
133:Stamp Duty Reserve Tax
60:HM Revenue and Customs
699:The Wealth of Nations
557:Statutes of the Realm
423:The Wealth of Nations
390:
229:Scottish Landfill Tax
158:Petroleum Revenue Tax
148:Insurance Premium Tax
952:Taxation in Scotland
838:at Wikimedia Commons
705:. pp. 517–518.
697:Smith, Adam (1991).
265:Land Transaction Tax
757:. BBC. 18 July 2013
219:Scottish income tax
206:Scottish Government
198:Vehicle Excise Duty
178:Climate Change Levy
138:Stamp Duty Land Tax
947:Taxation in France
601:Retail Price Index
569:John Stuart Mill,
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188:Machine Games Duty
153:Air Passenger Duty
102:proposal abolished
93:National Insurance
834:Media related to
366:England and Wales
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250:Taxation in Wales
234:Air Departure Tax
113:Capital gains tax
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515:. 18 July 2013.
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684:"Citizenship"
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810:. Retrieved
808:. 2021-06-15
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782:Phrasefinder
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759:. Retrieved
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354:property tax
349:
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193:Tobacco Duty
183:Landfill tax
101:
644:8 September
469:Bedroom tax
393:Southampton
378:William III
286:Council Tax
55:HM Treasury
846:Categories
836:Window tax
812:2021-06-15
787:2022-10-24
495:References
484:Hearth tax
428:Adam Smith
382:income tax
350:Window tax
173:Bingo Duty
128:Stamp Duty
81:Income tax
513:bbc.co.uk
479:Glass tax
474:Brick tax
806:BBC News
761:5 August
755:BBC News
463:See also
957:Windows
372:History
358:windows
709:
534:
453:Crimea
352:was a
618:7 May
542:p.416
763:2021
707:ISBN
646:2015
620:2024
532:ISBN
457:were
433:rent
86:PAYE
599:UK
420:In
76:VAT
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804:.
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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