     the window tax was a property tax based on the number of windows in a house. it was a significant social, cultural, and architectural force in england, france and scotland 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), as a result of the tax. in england and wales it was introduced in 1696 and was repealed in 1851, 156 years after first being introduced. france (established 1798, repealed 1926) and scotland both had window taxes for similar reasons. ==details== the tax was introduced in england and wales under the 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 guil. iii. p.&nbsp;5. n. 4]british history online, statutes of the realm: volume 7: 1695-1701, 'william iii, 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 guil. iii. p. 5. n. 4', statutes of the realm, volume 7: 1695-1701 (1820), pp. 86-94. url: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46825#s1 date accessed 18 september 2012 in 1696 under king william iii p.416 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. at that time, many people in britain opposed income tax, on principle, because they believed that the disclosure of personal income represented an unacceptable governmental intrusion into private matters, and a potential threat to personal liberty.john stuart mill, principles of political economy (1848), bk. v, ch. 3, section 5 in fact the first permanent british income tax was not introduced until 1842, and the issue remained intensely controversial well into the 20th century.hm revenue & customs "nicholas vansittart was chancellor when napoleon was defeated [in 1815]. 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 a year after waterloo, income tax was repealed âwith a thundering peal of applauseâ and parliament decided that all documents connected with it shou
1696_establishments_in_England 1748_establishments_in_Scotland Abolished_taxes Economy_of_Stuart_England English_architecture Georgian_era Legal_history_of_the_United_Kingdom Property_taxes Scottish_architecture Stuart_Scotland Tax_avoidance Taxation_in_France Taxation_in_Scotland Taxation_in_the_United_Kingdom Windows