1799 - The First British Income Tax

The first British income tax bill passed Parliament (January 9).

The income tax bill would produce revenue of six million pounds sterling for the year.  Introduced by Prime Minister William Pitt as a war measure, the law levied a standard rate of ten percent on incomes over 200 pounds sterling; taxed incomes of 60 to 199 pounds at reduced rates; allowed deductions for children, life insurance premiums, repairs to property, and tithes, and would raise 175 million pounds over the next seventeen years.