Window of Taxation

Wealth taxes are back in the minds of the public in the UK.^[1] In fact, the vox populi states that wealth taxes are clearly preferred over the other options.^[2] I won't get into the details here, but it is a politically charged issue where the most reasonable argument against it is the difficulty of implementation.^[3]

Speaking of wealth taxes, though, it isn't the first time England has experimented with such a notion. In fact, the original proto-wealth tax was the "Window tax",^[4] which was levied on landowners based on the number of windows in a house. In fact, it was only palatable because the idea of an income tax, which is now widely accepted, was so unpopular.

Its effectiveness lay in its simplicity. You didn't need to audit someone's personal circumstances. Instead, you could just look at the outside of their house. This tax lasted until 1851, for a period of over 150 years.^[5] Much like some of the oft-debated methods to tax wealth in the 21st century, its effectiveness was due to the inherent corporeality of an estate.^[6] Therefore, tax avoidance was difficult.

The easiest method to avoid the window tax was to brick up your window. If you wander around the streets of London today, a bricked-up window is likely the remnant of a landlord's attempt at tax minimisation.^[7]