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The Poll Tax, the Council Tax, Income Tax: most of us think that we are badly done to. But taxing the citizen has a long history and for those with land or money there was no rest from taxes. The first list below contains general. taxes; the second list what might be called irritating taxes on the well-to-do; the third list contains some local rates or taxes which varied according to locality.
| Lay Subsidy Tax | 1181 | A tax on a person's moveable possessions.1/10th of their value, later 1/10th for urban dwellers, 1/15th for rural dwellers. Last collected in 1623. |
| Land Tax | c1692 to 1832 | 4/- in the £. |
| Poll Tax | A form of personal tax. 3 times in the 14th century. Revived 1513 and several times in 17th century. Last time 1698. | |
| Registration Tax | 1694 to 1706 | On christenings, marriages and burials recorded in parish registers. 1783-1794 this tax restored but a significant fall in recorded entries |
| Hearth Tax | 1662 to 1689 | 2/- on each hearth but "the poor" exempted, as were some industrial hearths. |
| Window Tax | 1696 | replaced Hearth Tax. In various forms until 1851 |
| Income Tax | First levied 1799 | to help pay for war against the French. Revived 1803 |
| Carriage Tax | 1747 - 1782. |
| On those carrying Armorial Bearings | 1793 - 1882 |
| Possession of Clocks and Watches | 1797 - 1798. |
| Possession of Dogs | 1796 - 1882 |
| Households employing Female Servants | 1785 - 1792 |
| Households employing Male Servants | 1777 - 1852. |
| Game Duty on those Killing or Selling Game, including gamekeepers | 1784 - 1807 |
| Those Having Guns | 1870 - 1882. |
| Duty on Hair Powder | 1795 - 1798. |
| Possession of Horses | 1784 - 1874. |
| Possession of Silver Plate | 1756 - 1777 |
It will be noted that the Government of the second half of the 18th century was tireless in its efforts to generate income from the gentry and the middle classes.
| County Rates | 1793. On parishes to take the place of previous miscellaneous payments. |
| Church Rates | Levied locally on amount of land owned or leased Abolished 1868. |
| Poor Rate | A long history, levied by the parish overseers of the poor for the support of the local poor |
Some of the rates and taxes mentioned earlier in this article are included nowadays in income tax, local rates and V.A.T. One trend, both then and now, is that the more one is worth, the more' one pays. Today it all seems simpler and we should be grateful for that