British Window Tax
Today, in 1695 a “window tax” was imposed in Britain. It was a tax on how many windows that a structure had over an arbitrary number, say 10. Since there was resistance to implementing an income tax (which didn’t happen in that country until 1798) this was a way to tax property and then based on how many windows, or how apparently affluent the owner was — because he could afford all that glass.
Theoretically then the rich would pay a larger amount on their property than the middle-class property owners.
What happened though, was that a number of shopkeepers and home owners bricked over some of their windows! And on the flip side, some of the rich, to really show off built homes with as many windows in them as possible!
It was an unpopular tax, considered to be a tax on “light and air”. It was finally removed in 1851.
