Historical Overview Of The Introduction Of Glass Tax In England And Scotland
This article presents the historical facts about an old taxation system on windows in the United Kingdom. The window tax was introduced into Great Britain in 1696 by King William the third. In those days, the idea of civil liberty was different to that which exists today. In the prevailing climate, people felt that telling the king about their income was an unacceptable intrusion into their private business.
So, in order to be able to impose some sort of taxation on his people, the king decided that people with large houses could be taxed on a tiered system. There was a tax rate of 2 shillings for every householder. This equates to roughly ten new pence. In addition to this there was an extra tax for the householder if their house had more than ten windows.
For a property of ten to twenty windows each person would pay more than the flat rate. They would have to pay four shillings more. And for a house with over twenty windows, the property owner would have to pay eight shillings more. This was later reduced to a house with 7 windows. In 1825, the minimum number of windows taxed would be changed to eight.
This tax was quite unpopular among the people even though it was possible to claim an exemption. If the occupants were poor, they could apply for an exemption.
In order to evade this tax, residents resorted to bricking up extra windows. This occurred mainly in the 17th and early 18th centuries. In Scotland, this tax was not introduced until the 1780s by William Pitt the Younger. Even here, residents painted over their windows black with white crosses. These became known as Pitt’s pictures. A visitor to Charlotte’s Square in Edinburgh can still see these windows on some of the houses.
It may be possible that in contrast to this, many of the richer families actually had extra windows designed into their houses. They commissioned properties with as many windows as possible. Even blank walls had window facades to create the look of more windows.
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The History of Taxation, Chapter 7: Taxation and The American Revolution
W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
There has been no modern revolution that was more solidly based in tax problems. Tax issues not only caused it, but assisted in providing unity for the unorganized and squabbling colonies. However, maybe not precisely the way you might imagine. If you’re feeling the pressure with today’s taxes, call a CPA for Tax Preparation in Raleigh, NC for all your tax-related needs!
First, the British taxes on the colonies were neither not fair nor oppressing on the people. Actually, Americans had it great: we had the protection of the British empire, our land was rich, business was good, and there were jobs for everyone. Europe’s social castes didn’t limit the citizens and our sons were not forced to battle in wars in far-off places… we had it good. So what happened? Well, some missteps and misstatements by both sides. Go here if you want help with a modern-day Tax Return in Raleigh, NC.
“Taxation without representation” was indeed a problem. But nobody quite knew the solution to this problem (following the American revolution, many colonies such as Canada and Australia were able to find more productive solutions). However, at this time there was no agreement by the British parliament or American leaders on what could happen to avoid “taxation without representation”. Ben Franklin, unknowingly I presume, made the issue worse. He took a boat over to England as our liaison and said that internal taxes were bad but external taxes were OK.
By internal taxes, he meant the stamp tax and other taxes that were paid on transactions within the colonies themselves. External taxes, according to colonists’ definition, were those such as import taxes that were placed upon transactions that only in part took place in the colonies. The colonists thought import taxes were external to the colonies. Yes, if you are puzzled about this, you should be. It makes almost no sense. Apparently no one caught on to the connection with import/export taxes and the final prices paid for the goods and services. Essentially, import/export taxes affected the “other guy” so they were OK.
OK, said the British parliament. if that is what you want we will help and give you whatever it takes to make you happy. So, the British enacted new tariffs, import and export taxes. Then, Americans changed their mind. They saw the flaw of their reasoning… however, it was too late and the issue got worse.