commutation tax
English translation: an additional window tax, introduced in 1784 in commutation (substitution) for reduction in tea duty
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| 03:26 Dec 11, 2017 |
| English language (monolingual) [PRO] Government / Politics / Politics | |||||||
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|  Selected response from: Charles Davis Spain Local time: 14:17 | ||||||
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| 4 +3 | an additional window tax, introduced in 1784 in commutation (substitution) for reduction in tea duty |
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| Discussion entries: 2 | |
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Answers
2 hrs confidence: 
peer agreement (net): +3
peer agreement (net): +3an additional window tax, introduced in 1784 in commutation (substitution) for reduction in tea duty Explanation: The basic meaning of commutation is replacing one kind of imposition by another. So a commutation tax, in principle, is a tax imposed in substitution for another. The one Thomas Paine is referring to here is, in effect, a kind of property tax. Paine's The Rights of Man was published in 1791. The "commutation tax" in question had been introduced in 1784 by the British Prime Minister (William Pitt the Younger). It was an extra window tax, imposed to compensate for the reduction of duty on tea. Window tax was a property tax, based on the number of windows in a house. So it was partially progressive, in that the larger the house, the more windows and the more tax was payable, in principle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_tax Duty on tea was widely avoided by smuggling. Pitt responded to this by reducing tea duty, to remove the temptation for smugglers, and compensate for the loss of revenue with an extra window tax in addition to the existing one: "One of the principal sources of the revenue was destroyed by systematic smuggling of tea. [...] It was estimated that the smuggled tea was at least as much as that which paid duty. Pitt lowered the duty both for this article and for spirits, the other great smuggled commodity, so as to withdraw the temptation from the smugglers. The deficit was made up by a house and window tax; this is known as the Commutation Tax." http://www.gutenberg.org/files/47759/47759-h/47759-h.htm So "commutation" refers here to the fact that this new window tax substituted for tea duty. The following is on Scottish tax records: "Window Tax: Names of householders, number of houses and number of windows in houses with seven or more windows Commutation Tax: As above: in substitution (commutation) for excise duties on tea" https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/taxation-recor... Here is a note in an edition of Paine explaining what he means by commutation tax: "commutation tax] A graduated tax on windows in houses, imposed by the Pitt ministry in 1784 in addition to previous window taxes, to compensate for revenue lost by a reduction in the import duty on tea." https://books.google.es/books?id=aEsCHgRXGaoC&pg=PA883&lpg=P... Paine's point that although this commutation tax was somewhat progressive, it still fell disproportionately on the less wealthy, and should be replaced by an income tax. |
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