{{Short description|Tax levied from 1689 to 1963}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2025}} {{Use British English|date=August 2025}} {{more citations|date=June 2021}} {{UKtaxation}}
The '''Land Tax''' was a [[land value tax]] levied in England from 1670 to 1963: perhaps the best-known of these is the Land Tax Act 1692 ([[4 Will. & Mar.]] c. 1).<ref name=Beckett /> Land taxes were abolished by the [[Finance Act 1963]]. Taxes on land date back to the [[Norman Conquest]] and beyond, and the Land Tax introduced in 1692 was a natural successor to taxation acts in 1671 and 1689, but the Land Tax Act 1692 "has been regarded as a turning point in the history of English revenue collection. It was from this act that contemporaries and historians alike date what has come to be known as the eighteenth-century Land Tax".<ref name=Beckett>{{cite journal | title=Land Tax or Excise: the levying of taxation in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England | first= JV |last=Beckett | journal =The English Historical Review |volume=C |issue= CCCXCV |date=April 1985|pages=285–308 | doi= 10.1093/ehr/C.CCCXCV.285 |url= https://academic.oup.com/ehr/article-abstract/C/CCCXCV/285/416491?redirectedFrom=PDF|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The land tax elements of the 1671, 1689 and 1692 acts were limited to one year but the 1798 act made the tax perpetual (until it was abolished in 1963).<ref name=FA1963>{{Cite legislation UK |type=act |chapter=25 |act=Finance Act 1963 |section=68 |year= 1963 |accessdate=3 June 2021 }}</ref>
A Land Tax had also applied in Scotland from 1667.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/taxation-records |title=Taxation records {{!}} Land tax rolls 1645-1831 |date=31 May 2013 |publisher=National Records of Scotland |access-date=9 February 2020 |archive-date=3 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603092104/https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/taxation-records |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Pearsall>{{cite magazine | title= The Land Tax 1692-1963 | first=Mark |last=Pearsall | magazine=Magazine of the Friends of The National Archives |volume= 22 |number=3 |date= December 2011 |publisher=National Archives |url=https://nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/the-land-tax-1692-1963.pdf}}</ref> After the [[Acts of Union 1707]], the Scottish charge was included in subsequent acts of the [[Parliament of Great Britain]].
==Subsidy Act 1670/71 (22 & 23 Cha. 2. c. 3)== {{anchor|Subsidy Act 1670|Subsidy Act 1671}} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Subsidy Act 1670 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of England | long_title = An Act for granting a Subsidy to his Majestie for Supply of his Extraordinary Occasions. | year = 1670 | citation = [[22 & 23 Cha. 2]]. c. 3 | territorial_extent = [[England and Wales]] | royal_assent = 6 March 1671 | commencement = 24 October 1670{{efn|Start of session.}} | repeal_date = 28 July 1863 | repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1863]] | status = Repealed | original_text = https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol5/pp693-703 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }}
The '''{{visible anchor|Subsidy Act 1670}}''' ([[22 & 23 Cha. 2]]. c. 3), "An Act for granting a Subsidy to his Majestie for Supply of his Extraordinary Occasions", was enacted in the reign of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]].<ref name="1671 Act">{{cite book |title=Charles II, 1670 & 1671: An Act for granting a Subsidy to his Majestie for Supply of his Extraordinary Occasions |series=Statutes of the Realm 1628-80 |volume=5 | editor= John Raithby |publisher= Great Britain Record Commission |date= 1819 |pages= 693–703 |via= British History Online |access-date=4 June 2021 |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol5/pp693-703}}</ref> This act was described by Cecil Chandaman as "the product of the hardest and most constructive thinking by the Commons on the subject of direct taxation during the Restoration period".<ref>{{cite book | title=The English public revenue 1660-1688 | first= Cecil Douglas |last= Chandaman | date= 1975 | publisher= Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press | isbn=9780198282686 |page= 149}} cited in Becket (1985), page 292</ref> Beckett calls it "an attempt to resurrect and renovate the basic principle of the old subsidy which national wealth would be assessed at a pound rate", and thus the precursor of the 1689 and 1692 acts.<ref name=Beckett />{{rp|292}} Among the many revenue-raising elements, section IX specifies that "Lands, Mines, &c. to pay 12d. in the Pound of the yearly Value for one Year".<ref name="1671 Act" />{{efn|The phrase "yearly value" means the actual or notional annual rent that could be obtained on the open market for the asset concerned, whether actually let or not. "12d in the pound" means {{frac|12|240}} or 5%.}}
== Land Tax Act 1688 (1 Will. & Mar. c. 20) == {{anchor|Taxation Act 1688|Taxation Act 1689|Land Tax Act 1689}} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Land Tax Act 1688 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of England | long_title = An Act for a Grant to Their Majestyes of an Ayde of Twelve pence in the Pound for One Yeare for the necessary Defence of Their Realmes. | year = 1688 | citation = {{ubli|[[1 Will. & Mar.]] c. 20{{efn|name=StatutesOfTheRealm|This is the citation in ''[[The Statutes of the Realm]]''.}}|{{nowrap|[[1 Will. & Mar. Sess. 1]]. c. 20}}{{efn|name=StatutesAtLarge|This is the citation in ''[[The Statutes at Large]]''.}}}} | territorial_extent = [[England and Wales]] | royal_assent = 22 June 1689 | commencement = 13 February 1689{{efn|Start of session.}} | repeal_date = 15 July 1867 | repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1867]] | related_legislation = [[Land Tax (Commissioners) Act 1688]] | status = Repealed | original_text = https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol6/pp77-85 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Land Tax (Commissioners) Act 1688 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of England | long_title = An Additionall Act for the Appointing Commissioners for the Executing an Act of this present Parliament Entituled An Act for a Grant to their Majestyes of an Ayde of Twelve Pence in the Pound for One Yeare for the necessary Defence of their Realmes. | year = 1688 | citation = {{ubli|[[1 Will. & Mar.]] c. 31{{efn|name=StatutesOfTheRealm}}|{{nowrap|[[1 Will. & Mar. Sess. 1]]. c. 31}}{{efn|name=StatutesAtLarge}}}} | territorial_extent = [[England and Wales]] | royal_assent = 20 August 1689 | commencement = 13 February 1689{{efn|Start of session.}} | repeal_date = 15 July 1867 | repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1867]] | related_legislation = [[Land Tax Act 1689]] | status = Repealed | original_text = https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol6/p95a | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Land Tax Act 1691 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of England | long_title = An Act for Granting an Aid to Their Majesties of the Summe of Sixteene hundred fifty one thousand seven hundred and two pounds eighteen shillings towards the Carrying on a Vigorous Warre against France. | year = 1691 | citation = [[3 Will. & Mar.]] c. 5 | territorial_extent = [[England and Wales]] | royal_assent = 31 December 1691 | commencement = 25 December 1691{{efn|name=Section1|Section 1.}} | repeal_date = 15 July 1867 | repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1867]] | status = Repealed | original_text = https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol6/pp180-218 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }}
{{hatnote|Because of [[Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793|the convention at the time]] to give an act the date at which the session of Parliament began, the Land Tax Act 1688 is so-called<ref>{{cite book | chapter=1 William and Mary c 20 C. J. x. 118, 131 |title=Debates of the House of Commons from the Year 1677 to the Year 1694 |editor=A. Grey |date=1769}} cited in Beckett (1985) page 288</ref> even though it was actually made law in 1689.}}
{{blockquote|CAP XX An act for a grant to their Majesties of an aid of twelve pence in the pound for one year for the necessary of defence of their realms.<br /> {{notatypo|... shall pay unto their Majesties the sum of twelve pence for twenty shillings by the year which the said manors messuages lands tenements hereditaments and other the premisses now worth to be leased if the same were truly and ''bona fide'' or leased at a rack rent and according to the full true value thereof without any respect had to the present rents reserved for the same if such rents have been reserved upon such leases or estates made for which any fine or income hath been paid or secured and without any respect had to any former rates or taxes thereupon imposed: }} |source=1 Will. & Mary c 20, 1689.<ref name="Statutes 9">{{cite book | series=The Statutes at Large |title=from the First Year of K. William and Q. Mary to the Eighth Year of King William III | first=Danby |last=Pickering |publisher = Charles Bathurst |date=1764 |volume=9 |page=25{{ndash}}43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tFMDAAAAQAAJ}}</ref>{{rp|25}} }}
The '''{{visible anchor|Land Tax Act 1688}}''' ([[1 Will. & Mar.]] c. 20) aimed to capture income from all sources: business, employment and land (the main source of wealth in the seventeenth century and for many years afterwards). In a sense, it was a general income tax, although income was not itself assessed. The state lacked the administrative machinery to measure actual income. Instead, income was calculated indirectly by reference to the deemed [[yield (finance)|yield]] from the capital value of assets, to which was applied a rate of twelve [[penny (British pre-decimal coin)|pence]] (one [[shilling]]) in the pound (5%). However, despite this, it soon proved impracticable to collect much tax from business and employment, and the main yield of the tax came from the charges on land. Hence before long, the tax came to be called the Land Tax, and the annual Land Tax acts used this name. The business and employment charges lingered on, and were repealed by 1877.{{cn|date=June 2021}}
The charge on land in 1689 depended on a valuation of all property throughout the country to find its open market rental value. That value was the income subject to the tax. Because, no doubt, of the difficulty and expense of valuation, the same values were used in subsequent years. As time passed the original valuation become increasingly unrealistic and, moreover, the relative value of property in different areas changed, especially as the Industrial Revolution got underway. Poor land in places that became major powerhouses increased hugely in value. Surprisingly, however, there was never another valuation in the entire 271-year history of Land Tax, even though it was re-enacted annually until 1798, when it was made permanent. Naturally, there were many complaints over the years about the unfair incidence of the tax, but MPs for the lightly taxed areas resisted reform.{{cn|date=June 2021}}
== Land Tax Act 1692 (4 Will. & Mar c. 1)== {{anchor|Taxation Act 1692|Land Tax Act 1693}} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Land Tax Act 1692 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of England | long_title = An Act for granting to their Majesties an Aid of four shillings in the pound for one year, for carrying on a vigorous war against France. | year = 1692 | citation = [[4 Will. & Mar.]] c. 1 | territorial_extent = [[England and Wales]] | royal_assent = 20 January 1693 | commencement = 4 November 1692{{efn|Start of session.}} | repeal_date = 15 July 1867 | repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1867]] | status = Repealed | original_text = https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol6/pp323-372 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Land Tax Act 1693 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of England | long_title = An Act for granting to Their Majesties an Aid of Foure Shillings in the Pound, for One yeare, for carrying on a vigorous War against France. | year = 1694 | citation = [[5 Will. & Mar.]] c. 1 | territorial_extent = [[England and Wales]] | royal_assent = 25 January 1694 | commencement = 7 November 1693{{efn|Start of session.}} | repeal_date = 15 July 1867 | repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1867]] | status = Repealed | original_text = https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol6/pp426-442 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }}
The '''{{visible anchor|Land Tax Act 1692}}''' ([[4 Will. & Mar.]] c. 1) is introduced simply as "an Act for granting to their Majesties an Aid of four shillings in the pound for one year, for carrying on a vigorous war against France",<ref name="Statutes 3">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/statutesatlargef03grea/page/483/mode/1up |page=483{{ndash}}499 |series=The Statutes at Large |title=from the First Year of King James the First to the Tenth Year of the reign of King William the Third |volume=3 |date=1763 | first=Owen |last=Ruffhead |publisher=Mark Basket}}</ref><!-- The author page is missing from the archive.org copy but is given at https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/From_the_First_Year_of_King_James_the_Fi/bqTQPgAACAAJ?hl=en --> but subsequently became known as one of the Land Tax Acts.<ref name=Pearsall /> (Four shillings in the pound equates to 20% of imputed income based on the value of the asset.)
==Land Tax Act 1697 (8 & 9 Will. 3. c. 6)== {{anchor|Land Tax Act 1697|Taxation Act 1697|Land Tax Act 1698|Land Tax Act 1710|Land Tax Act 1720}} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Land Tax Act 1696 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of England | long_title = An Act for granting an Aid to His Majesty as well by a Land Tax as by several Subsidies and other Duties payable for One Yeare. | year = 1697 | citation = [[8 & 9 Will. 3]]. c. 6 | territorial_extent = [[England and Wales]] | royal_assent = 29 January 1697 | commencement = 25 December 1696{{efn|name=Section1}} | repeal_date = 15 July 1867 | repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1867]] | status = Repealed | original_text = https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol7/pp166-189 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Land Tax Act 1698 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of England | long_title = An Act for granting to His Majesty the Summ of One Million four hundred eighty four thousand and fifteene one Shilling eleaven Pence three Farthings for disbanding the Army providing for the Navy and for other necessary Occasions. | year = 1698 | citation = {{ubli|[[10 Will. 3]]. c. 9{{efn|name=StatutesOfTheRealm}}|[[10 & 11 Will. 3]]. c. 9{{efn|name=StatutesAtLarge}}}} | territorial_extent = [[England and Wales]] | royal_assent = 4 May 1699 | commencement = 15 February 1698{{efn|name=Section1}} | repeal_date = 15 July 1867 | repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1867]] | status = Repealed | original_text = https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol7/pp469-501 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Land Tax Act 1710 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of Great Britain | long_title = An Act for granting an Aid to Her Majesty, to be raised by a Land Tax in Great Britain, for the Service of the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eleven. | year = 1710 | citation = [[9 Ann.]] c. 1 | territorial_extent = [[Great Britain]] | royal_assent = 23 December 1710 | commencement = 25 March 1711{{efn|Section 2.}} | repeal_date = 15 July 1867 | repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1867]] | status = Repealed | original_text = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000033905853&view=1up&seq=313 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Land Tax Act 1711 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of Great Britain | long_title = An Act for granting an Aid to Her Majesty, to be raised by a Land Tax in Great Britain, for the Service of the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve. | year = 1711 | citation = [[10 Ann.]] c. 1 | territorial_extent = [[Great Britain]] | royal_assent = 22 December 1711 | commencement = 25 March 1712{{efn|Section 1.}} | repeal_date = 15 July 1867 | repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1867]] | status = Repealed | original_text = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000033905853&view=1up&seq=559 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Land Tax Act 1720 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of Great Britain | long_title = An Act for granting an Aid to His Majesty, by a Land Tax, to be raised in Great Britain, for the Service of the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred Twenty-one. | year = 1720 | citation = [[7 Geo. 1. St. 1]]. c. 4 | territorial_extent = [[Great Britain]] | royal_assent = 11 February 1721 | commencement = 25 March 1721{{efn|name=Section1}} | repeal_date = 15 July 1867 | repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1867]] | status = Repealed | original_text = https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=n7ouAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA302 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }}
The '''{{visible anchor|Land Tax Act 1696}}''' ([[8 & 9 Will. 3]]. c. 6), "'An Act for granting an Aid to His Majesty as well by a Land Tax as by several Subsidies and other Duties payable for One Yeare",<ref name=89William>{{cite book |chapter=8&9 Gul. III. c. 6. |title=Statutes of the Realm |volume=7, 1695-1701 |editor=John Raithby |date= 1820 |pages= 166–189 |via= British History Online |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol7/pp166-189 |access-date= 5 June 2021}} ("Gul." is {{lang|la|Gulielmi}} meaning William)</ref> the third of the 17th century Land Tax Acts, is the first to say so explicitly in its title. Despite the act levying a [[poll tax]], income taxes and a variety of other taxes in addition to the land tax,<ref name=89William /> the tax raised just 87% of the 1693 yield.<ref name=Beckett />{{rp|294}} In the Land Tax Act 1696, Land Tax became a ''quota'' tax. That is, after several years of falling yields, the government decided to abandon the attempt to measure assets. Instead, they raised a set sum from England and Wales based on the yield from the Land Tax Act 1692 ([[4 Will. & Mar.]] c. 1).{{cn|date=June 2021}} That act imposed a tax at four shillings in the pound and raised about £2 million (about £{{inflation|UK|2|1687}} million today).{{efn|Inflation estimates are based on retail prices or average wages rather than the UK's [[Gross Domestic Product]], which might be more appropriate but data are not available for this period.}} The quota acts subsequently raised one of four sums depending on the budgetary requirements of the year: £2 million, £1.5 million, £1 million or £0.5 million using nominal rates of four shillings, three shillings, two shillings and one shilling. The rates were nominal because they were not used to calculate the annual amount. By the end of the eighteenth century, four shillings had become the usual rate.{{cn|date=June 2021}}
The quota acts divided the total for England and Wales between towns and counties using the 1689 valuations, which were never revised. Land Tax acts thereafter listed each town and county by name together with the amount of quota due. The amounts due from each place only changed in proportion to the fixed sum for the whole country. For example, if the rate was four shillings a place might have to pay £10,000 out of the £2 million total. If the rate was two shillings, the total for the country became £1 million, and the place would have to pay £5,000. Unpaid local worthies were appointed by the acts to run the tax, and they split the total for their area down to parishes and individual properties in proportion to the 1689 valuations. Usually, the commissioners carried the same valuation for each property forward from one year to the next. After the Acts of Union 1707, the annual Land Tax Act also included a fixed sum for Scotland.
==Land Tax Perpetuation Act 1798 (Great Britain)== {{anchor|Land Tax Act 1798}} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Land Tax Perpetuation Act 1798{{efn|name=st|The citation of this act by this [[short title]] was authorised by section 1 of, and the first schedule to, the [[Short Titles Act 1896]]. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the [[Interpretation Act 1978]].}} | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of Great Britain | long_title = An Act for making perpetual, subject to Redemption and Purchase in the Manner therein stated, the several Sums of Money now charged in Great Britain as a Land Tax for One Tear from the Twenty-fifth day of March One thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight. | year = 1798 | citation = [[38 Geo. 3]]. c. 60 | territorial_extent = [[Great Britain]] | royal_assent = 21 June 1798 | commencement = 25 March 1798{{efn|name=Section1}} | repeal_date = 30 July 1949 | amendments = {{ubli|[[Land Tax Redemption (No. 2) Act 1799]]|[[Land Tax Redemption (No. 2) Act 1800]]|[[Land Tax Redemption Act 1802]]|[[Statute Law Revision Act 1888]]}} | repealing_legislation = [[Finance Act 1949]] | status = Repealed | original_text = https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=taZFAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA788 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }} Nor was there a new valuation when the '''{{visible anchor|Land Tax Perpetuation Act 1798}}''' ([[38 Geo. 3]]. c. 60) made the Land Tax permanent, although some MPs complained that the government was setting historic injustices in stone. Prime Minister William Pitt resisted a new valuation on the grounds that the 1692 figures had been used for over 100 years despite the annual opportunity for reevaluation when the tax was re-imposed.{{cn|date=June 2021}} Parliament had had plenty of chances to reform, and had been content to continue the old system; so there was no reason to change now. In the midst of war, Pitt probably had no time to undertake a new valuation.{{cn|date=June 2021}}
Land Tax was made permanent because Pitt devised a scheme to offer property owners the option to buy out ('redeem') future Land Tax by paying a lump sum. The government gave up its future stream of tax for an immediate capital payment. It was necessary for Land Tax to be converted from an annual tax into a permanent tax so there would be a permanent obligation that could be bought and sold. (Otherwise, property owners would be unlikely to pay a large lump sum to redeem a tax which might not be re-imposed in the future.) The scheme was a reasonable success. The annual Land Tax yield was then about £2 million (say £{{inflation|UK|2|1798}} million today) and about a quarter was redeemed by the end of 1800, producing just over £9 million (say £{{inflation|UK|9|1800}} million today) for the government. Over the next 50 years, only an additional £400,000 of Land Tax was redeemed, despite attempts to make the option more attractive. After 1800, the value of Land Tax to the government continued to decline, partly because of redemption and partly because of inflation.
{{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Land Tax Redemption Act 1802{{efn|name=st}} | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom | long_title = An act for consolidating the Provisions of the several Acts passed for the Redemption and Sale of the Land Tax, into one Act, and for making further Provision for the Redemption and Sale thereof; and for removing Doubts respecting the Right of Persons claiming to vote at Elections for Knights of the Shire and other Members to serve in Parliament, in respect of Messuages, Lands, or Tenements, the Land Tax upon which shall have been redeemed or purchased. | year = 1802 | citation = [[42 Geo. 3]]. c. 116 | territorial_extent = [[United Kingdom]] | royal_assent = 26 June 1802 | commencement = 24 June 1802{{efn|name=Section1}} | repeal_date = 16 November 1989 | amends = [[Land Tax Perpetuation Act 1798]] | replaces = {{ubli|[[Land Tax Redemption, etc. Act 1798]]|[[Land Tax Redemption Act 1799]]|[[Land Tax Redemption (No. 2) Act 1799]]|[[Land Tax Redemption (No. 3) Act 1799]]|[[Land Tax Redemption (No. 4) Act 1799]]|[[Land Tax Redemption Act 1800]]|[[Land Tax Redemption (No. 2) Act 1800]]|[[Land Tax Redemption Act 1801]]}} | amendments = {{ubli|[[False Oaths (Scotland) Act 1933]]|[[Charities Act 1960]]|[[Crown Estate Act 1961]]}} | repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989]] | related_legislation = {{ubli|[[Land Tax Act 1797]]}} | status = Repealed | original_text = https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VkmpYG4zItsC&pg=PA612 | use_new_UK-LEG = no }} The '''{{visible anchor|Land Tax Redemption Act 1802}}''' ([[42 Geo. 3]]. c. 116) consolidated enactments relating to the redemption and sale of land tax.
For most of the eighteenth century, the bulk of government revenue came from customs and excise—taxes on everyday goods such as salt, candles, leather, beer, soap and starch, as well as luxury goods like wine, brandy, silks, gold and silver thread, silver plate, horses, coaches and hats.{{cn|date=June 2021}} In the middle of the eighteenth century, the Land Tax accounted for about 15% of the total tax revenue.{{cn|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Land Tax Commissioners Act 1821 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom | long_title = An act for appointing Commissioners for carrying into Execution an Act or this Session of Parliament, for granting to His Majesty a Duty on Pensions and Offices in England; and an Act, made in the Thirty eighth Year of His late Majesty, for granting an Aid to His Majesty by a Land Tax to be raised in Great Britain, for the Service of the Year One thousand seven hundred and ninety eight. | year = 1821 | citation = [[1 & 2 Geo. 4]]. c. 123 | territorial_extent = [[United Kingdom]] | royal_assent = 2 July 1821 | commencement = 2 July 1821{{efn|name=aopca|The [[Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793]].}} | repeal_date = 5 August 1873 | amends = {{ubli|[[Land Tax Act 1797]]|[[Duties on Malt, etc. Act 1821]]}} | repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1873]] | related_legislation = | status = Repealed | original_text = https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=m6g3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA526 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }} Until the mid-19th century the land tax commissioners were local property owners acting without remuneration.<ref name="parliament_commissioners"/> Latterly they also had responsibility for collecting the [[History of inheritance taxes in the United Kingdom#Duties before Finance Act 1894|Duty on Pensions, Offices, and Personal Estates]]. Periodically an act was passed listed all the names of the commissioners to be appointed, grouped by the area within which they had authority.<ref name="parliament_commissioners">{{cite web |title=Land Tax Commissioners |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/taxation/case-study/introduction1/land-tax-commissioners/ |website=Living Heritage; People & Parliament transforming society |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=13 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref> The longest act enrolled in the [[Parliamentary Archives]] is the '''{{visible anchor|Land Tax Commissioners Act 1821}}''' ([[1 & 2 Geo. 4]]. c. 123) which names about 65,000 land tax commissioners; it comprises 757 [[vellum]] membranes of [[sheepskin]] measuring {{convert|348|metres}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=1821 Land Tax Act |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/taxation/case-study/introduction1/1821-land-tax-act/ |website=Living Heritage; People & Parliament transforming society |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=13 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref> It has been displayed (rolled up) in exhibitions in the [[Palace of Westminster#Royal Gallery|Westminster Royal Gallery]] in 2004,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moore-Brabazon |first1=Ivon |title=House of Lords: Display of Historical Documents |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/2004/jun/22/house-of-lords-display-of-historical#column_1116 |website=Hansard |access-date=13 October 2021 |page=HL Deb vol 662 c1116 |no-pp=y |date=22 June 2004}}</ref> and the [[People's History Museum]] in 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Major Loan from the Parliamentary Archives: The Longest Act, 1821 |url=https://phm.org.uk/installations/a-major-loan-from-the-parliamentary-archives-the-longest-act-1821/ |website=People's History Museum |access-date=13 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
== See also == * [[History of taxation in the United Kingdom]]
== Notes == {{Notelist}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{cite podcast |url= https://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/the-land-tax-1692-1963/ | title=The Land Tax 1692-1963 | first=Mark |last=Pearsall |date= 1 August 2011 |publisher=National Archives }} (Audio-visual presentation, 45 minutes.)
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Land value taxation]] [[Category:Taxation in England]]