This article presents the historical facts about an old taxation system on windows in the United Kingdom. The window tax was introduced into Great Britain in 1696 by King William the third. In those days, the idea of civil liberty was different to that which exists today. In the prevailing climate, people felt that telling the king about their income was an unacceptable intrusion into their private business.
To find a way to tax them based on some sort of wealth measure, the King decided to tax his subjects depending on the size of house they inhabited. Each householder was to pay a flat rate of 2 shillings. Then in addition to this, each person with more than 10 windows in their dwelling would pay extra tax.
For a property of ten to twenty windows each person would pay more than the flat rate. They would have to pay four shillings more. And for a house with over twenty windows, the property owner would have to pay eight shillings more. This was later reduced to a house with 7 windows. In 1825, the minimum number of windows taxed would be changed to eight.
Poor subjects who were eligible for the church's charity could claim an exemption. This was irrespective of the number of windows their dwelling contained.
However, in the 17th and 18th centuries, many larger houses could be seen with bricked up windows. This is an obvious attempt to avoid this window tax. In Scotland, after William Pitt the Younger introduced this tax in the 1780s, the windows were painted black with white frames. This was also done in order to avoid paying the tax. These popularly became known as Pitt's pictures. Examples of these windows can still be seen in Charlotte Square in Edinburgh.
It is thought that several of the richest families took this opportunity to commission huge houses with the largest possible number of windows. They even had windows installed over blank wall space to prove how rich they were.
To find a way to tax them based on some sort of wealth measure, the King decided to tax his subjects depending on the size of house they inhabited. Each householder was to pay a flat rate of 2 shillings. Then in addition to this, each person with more than 10 windows in their dwelling would pay extra tax.
For a property of ten to twenty windows each person would pay more than the flat rate. They would have to pay four shillings more. And for a house with over twenty windows, the property owner would have to pay eight shillings more. This was later reduced to a house with 7 windows. In 1825, the minimum number of windows taxed would be changed to eight.
Poor subjects who were eligible for the church's charity could claim an exemption. This was irrespective of the number of windows their dwelling contained.
However, in the 17th and 18th centuries, many larger houses could be seen with bricked up windows. This is an obvious attempt to avoid this window tax. In Scotland, after William Pitt the Younger introduced this tax in the 1780s, the windows were painted black with white frames. This was also done in order to avoid paying the tax. These popularly became known as Pitt's pictures. Examples of these windows can still be seen in Charlotte Square in Edinburgh.
It is thought that several of the richest families took this opportunity to commission huge houses with the largest possible number of windows. They even had windows installed over blank wall space to prove how rich they were.
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