Window tax was a
property tax
A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...
based on the number of
window
A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materia ...
s in a house. It was a significant social, cultural, and architectural force in England, France, and Ireland during the 18th and 19th centuries. To
avoid the tax, some houses from the period can be seen to have bricked-up window-spaces (ready to be glazed or reglazed at a later date). In
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
it was introduced in 1696 and was repealed 155 years later, in 1851. In France it was established in 1798 and was repealed in 1926. Scotland had window tax from 1748 until 1798.
History
The tax was introduced in England and Wales in 1696 under King
William III William III or William the Third may refer to:
Kings
* William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198)
* William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702)
* William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...
and was designed to impose tax relative to the prosperity of the taxpayer, but without the controversy that then surrounded the idea of
income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
.
![Window Tax](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Window_Tax.jpg)
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, and the tax remained controversial into the 20th century.
When the window tax was introduced, it consisted of two parts: a flat-rate house tax of two shillings per house (equivalent to £ in ), 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 to £ in ), and those above twenty windows paid an extra eight shillings (equivalent to £ in ).
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 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.
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.
Manchester Royal Infirmary
Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) is a large NHS teaching hospital in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England. Founded by Charles White in 1752 as part of the voluntary hospital movement of the 18th century, it is now a major regional and nati ...
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 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".
In ''
The Wealth of Nations
''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations'', generally referred to by its shortened title ''The Wealth of Nations'', is the ''magnum opus'' of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith. First published in 1 ...
'',
Adam Smith
Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...
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 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
rent
Rent may refer to:
Economics
*Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property
*Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production
*Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...
.
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 symmetry of a building facade. A similar tax also existed in France from 1798 to 1926.
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 also abolished at the same time.
The saying "daylight robbery" is popularly believed to originate with the window tax, but there appears to be no scholarly support for this. Another myth is that the tax inspired Europeans to begin using bricked-up windows, although this is also untrue, as blind windows were used for aesthetic purposes since at least the medieval period, such as on the
Church of Saint John the Baptist, Kerch
The Church of St John the Baptist (also known as Church of St John the Precursor) is a Christian church located in the city center of Kerch, Crimea. Built in the Byzantine architecture, Byzantine architectural style, it is noted for the candy-strip ...
,
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
, built in 757 CE. Windows ''were'' also bricked up in Europe from the 1600s to avoid taxes.
See also
*
Bedroom tax
The under-occupancy penalty (also known as the under occupation penalty, under-occupancy charge, under-occupation charge or size criteria) results from a provision of the British Welfare Reform Act 2012 whereby tenants living in public housing (a ...
*
Brick tax
The brick tax was a property tax introduced in Great Britain in 1784, during the reign of King George III, to help pay for the wars in the American Colonies. Bricks were initially taxed at 2 s 6 d per thousand. The brick tax was eventually aboli ...
*
Glass tax
The glass tax was introduced in Great Britain in 1746, during the reign of King George II. Originally, these acts taxed initially raw materials used for glass making. Glass was at that time sold by weight, and manufacturers responded by producing ...
*
Hearth tax
A hearth tax was a property tax in certain countries during the medieval and early modern period, levied on each hearth, thus by proxy on wealth. It was calculated based on the number of hearths, or fireplaces, within a municipal area and is cons ...
*
Wallpaper tax
The wallpaper tax was a property tax introduced in Great Britain in 1712, during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain, Queen Anne. Patterned, printed, or painted wallpaper was initially taxed at 1Penny (British pre-decimal coin), d per square ...
References
External links
* {{Commons category-inline, Window tax
1696 establishments in England
1748 establishments in Scotland
1798 establishments in France
1851 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
1926 disestablishments in France
Abolished taxes
Economic history of England
Economic history of France
Economic history of Scotland
Economy of Stuart England
Architecture in England
Georgian era
History of taxation in the United Kingdom
Legal history of England
Legal history of France
Legal history of Scotland
Property taxes
Architecture in Scotland
Tax avoidance
Taxation in France
Taxation in Scotland
Windows