Quit-rent

Quit rent, quit-rent, or quitrent was a form of rent or land tax imposed on occupants of freehold or leased land in lieu of services owed to a higher landowning authority, usually a government, proprietor, or other holder of superior title.

Over time, especially after the decline of feudalism, quit rents increasingly resembled conventional forms of land tax. Governments and proprietors continued to impose quit rents on land grants and property holdings, particularly in colonial territories, where they became part of broader systems of land administration and revenue collection.