Window tax

The window tax was a tax that was payable by an owner of belonging to his living room window.

They existed in France from November 24, 1798 ( 4 Frimaire VII ) on for over 100 years as door and window control ( annual yield about 60 million francs ), in England from 1696 to 1851, introduced as a replacement of the oven control to their collection of the tax officials had to enter in Spain until 1910, in the Netherlands from 1821 to 1896 as part of the personnel control. , the respective house

France

In France, until 1926, a door and window tax, which was applied only to rentable homes. When renting or willful vacancy the tax was levied. Agricultural, basements, roofs and used in public service areas were not counted. The tax was paid by the main tenant or owner who was able to collect from the tenants according to their share again.

It is alleged that as a result of this control, the built in France in the 19th century houses usually had only one to three windows.

In 1871 annexed by the German Reich Reich country Alsace-Lorraine, the door and window tax was abolished in 1895.

Germany

In Germany, the door and window control from 1798 in the France of 1797 occupied the left bank areas and since 1811 also in 1807 established the Kingdom of Westphalia. Even after the end of Napoleonic rule in these territories kept the there again coming to power, the German sovereigns at first this tax, such as in the Prussian provinces of the Lower Rhine, Westphalia and Jülich -Cleves -Berg, in the Electorate of Hesse, and Hesse-Darmstadt urban Rheinhessen.

England

In England, the window tax was levied for the first time in 1695, to replace the loss by filing down of coins revenue. Initially, two shillings were collected for each house, later four shillings and for more than 20 windows eight shillings were paid for buildings with 10 to 20 windows. As these fees ausuferten more and more, came the so-called " corking ", ie the brick up the window in fashion. Walled windows were exempt from the tax, if the filler material in harmony with the adjacent walls. To save taxes, therefore, more and more homeowners walled to the windows of their homes, creating a growing number of citizens were deprived of daylight. In particular in the poorer neighborhoods took the situation with the time on grotesque proportions. The built in the early days of industrialization tenements were almost no windows because of this tax. The increasingly unpopular tax was abolished in 1851.

Netherlands

The window tax was part of the "personal control ", which taxed the rental value, doors, windows, fireplaces, furniture, servants and horses. The amount of tax was not directed to the size of the openings of doors and windows, but the size of the congregation: 40 cents in smaller communities or 1.10 guilders in larger ones.