THE TOP 10 STUPID TAXES – I
Here are the top 10 stupid taxes… ever in the world.
1. Early 1000s: Heregeld
Lady Godiva’s legendary ride naked through Coventry was perhaps one of the most effective anti-tax demonstrations in history. Her tyrannical husband, Earl Leofric, had imposed an oppressive tax called the Heregeld to pay for the King’s bodyguard.
After pleading with him to repeal the tax, Leofric replied: “You will have to ride naked through Coventry before I will change my ways”. So Godiva took him at his word – after ordering the town to close all their windows and doors, she rode through the town with only her long golden hair as her cover. True to his word, Godiva’s husband repealed the hated tax.
2. 1773: Colonial taxes
The Boston Tea party was not a party, but a demonstration against the unfair taxation of colonies. The British Government gave the British East India Company, an English trade company, far more beneficial tax arrangements than its colonial competitors.
Demonstrators in Boston became particularly fed-up with this, and one night a group of protestors sneaked onboard a docked British East India Company ship and unloaded 45 tons of tea (worth an estimated £10,000 – that is about £953,000 today) into the sea. The event ultimately helped spark the American Revolution and the loss of America to the British Empire.
3. 1696: Window tax
Ever wondered why some old or listed buildings have their windows bricked up? When William III reigned, a new tax was imposed on houses with more than six windows to help pay for the wars in Ireland and on the continent. Homeowners with bricked up windows would have undoubtedly suffered dark rooms and poor ventilation but many considered that preferable to paying up. The tax was not repealed for 51 years. (…cont.)