Curiosity - The window tax

Thursday, 4 February 2010

William III was in a financial crisis in 1696 due to the wars with Ireland and on the continent. One new idea that was brought in to help pay for the debt was the unpopular window tax. The tax was payable on houses of more than six windows, so the clever tax-dodgers simply got hold of a builder to brick up the other windows. Houses with nine windows would pay 2/- (10p) and ten to nineteen windows the cost was 4/- (20p). In 1851 the window tax was scraped and a new tax called house duty a forerunner to community charge became payable.