Over the last 1,000 years, the UK has experienced a variety of strange tax laws.
Some of these were almost unbelievable.
The Aromatic Powder Tax (1795) – No more wearing wigs
The UK’s wig market had been severely affected by this tax on the powders that were used to make wigs. The elaborate wig business never recovered. For help with your taxes, consider Cheltenham accountants like www.randall-payne.co.uk/
Scutage tax – The real price of cowardice
King Henry I created the Scutage Tax or Scutagium, which allowed knights to avoid military service in his campaigns by paying an amount of tax. It was soon dubbed the tax on cowardice.
The Printed Wallpaper Tax (1712-1836), a blow for interior design
Wallpaper tax was introduced by Queen Anne in Great Britain during her reign in 1712.
By 1809, the price of wallpaper that was printed, patterned, or painted rose to £3.86 per sq. yard. Many bought plain paper, and stencilled it themselves, thus avoiding the tax.
In 1836, the tax was abolished.
Brick Tax (1700-1850)
Taxing bricks was probably a good idea at first, but policymakers quickly realised that the public is very creative when it comes down to reducing taxes.
The principle was that the more bricks used, the higher the tax. What did builders do then? Use bigger bricks! The law was repealed by 1850.
The Fireplace Tax: Energy efficiency gone too far? (1660-1689)
Again, this tax on fireplaces wasn’t a bad idea. The Government of the day was attempting to tax richer homes (those that had more fireplaces) at a higher rate than poorer homes.
The tax was repealed by 1689 after taxpayers realised that they could hide fireplaces using bricks.
Salt Tax: Gandhi’s protests, the Dandi March (1835-1947),
Gandhi’s nonviolent demonstrations against this particular tax attracted international attention.
The British colonial government heavily taxed salt production and sales. It was especially harsh for the residents because salt is a basic necessity and high taxes made it prohibitively costly for many Indians. This had a negative impact on their everyday lives and their economic well-being.
Gandhi, along with his supporters, walked 240 miles from the Arabian Sea, known as the Dandi March or the Salt March to protest British monopoly on salt and the oppressive tax.
The Indian independence movement received a large amount of support.
Window Tax (1696-1851).
It is from this that we get the phrase “daylight robbery”. The intention was to tax the richer homes based on their number of windows, similar to the taxes mentioned above.
This led to the bricking of windows, usually at servants’ quarters. The term “bricking” was born.