Window tax

“ The natural tendency of the window tax, and of all other taxes upon houses, is to lower rents. The more a man pays for the tax, the less, it is evident, he can afford to pay for the rent. Since the imposition of the window tax, however, the rents of houses have, upon the whole, risen more or less, in almost every town and village of Great Britain, with which I am acquainted. ”

“ WINDOW TAX, a tax first levied in England in the year 1697 for the purpose of defraying the expenses and making up the deficiency arising from clipped and defaced coin in the recoinage of silver during the reign of William III. It was an assessed tax on the rental value of the house, levied according to the number of windows and openings on houses having more than six windows and worth more than £5 per annum. ”

“ But as people did not like the tax-gatherer coming into the house to count the hearths, the window tax was substituted, because the tax-gatherer could walk round the outside of the house, and count the windows. Now, in England, we do not tax the light of heaven at all, but we fix a man's payments by the rent of his house, the amount of his income, or the quantity of wine and beer he drinks. ”

“ We have squeezed out of the neediest, most hard-working of our population $1,563,000 taxes on their "daylight" or window tax, which has gone into the Treasury; but we have squeezed at least $5,000,000 more and put it into the pockets of people who made similar glass. Our Pan-American guests may reflect on the above statistics and come to the conclusion that having flourishing window-glass industries may, after all, not be the highest blessing. ”

“ It is inconceivable—no one a priori could credit it—how few householders in town, and not being landowners, pay any assessed taxes at all—or any of such amount as to be really a burden. The total number of houses charged to the window tax, in Great Britain, is 447,000, and the duty levied on them is, £1,613,774, or, at an average, about £3, 10s. ”

“ A house of ten pounds rent in a country town, may sometimes have more windows than a house of five hundred pounds rent in London; and though the inhabitant of the former in likely to be a much poorer man than that of the latter, yet, so far as his contribution is regulated by the window tax, he must contribute more to the support of the state. ”

“ Disraeli, sacrifice any revenue at all till something like permanence had been imparted to these arrangements? On the 30th of July he brought forward a futile motion to this effect in a grandiose speech, and was supported by Mr. Gladstone, whose antipathy to the Government was fast becoming uncontrollable. Yet Mr. Gladstone’s argument was sound enough. To surrender the Window Tax for one like the hated House Duty, which rested on a narrow basis and was vitiated by special anomalies of inequality and injustice of incidence, that had secured its abolition in 1834, was surely bad finance. ”

“ Even occupiers of cottages had to pay the window tax, unless exempt by the receipt of parish relief, but, by many thoughtful men of the time, its application to agricultural labourers was looked upon with disfavour.
About the end of the last century there was hardly anything that a man could see, taste, handle, or use, that was not taxed—windows, candles, tobacco pipes, almanacs, soap, newspapers, hats, bricks, domestic servants, watches, clocks, hair powder, besides nearly every article of food! ”

“ Supposing that new building takes place, whether from the poorer classes tending more to the suburban districts, or from the dense parts of towns being rebuilt, much might be done by modifying, if not repealing, the window tax and the tax on bricks. ”

“ And I there found, that from the last survey that was made, since the year 1750, there were 690,700 houses in England and Wales that paid the window-tax, and the two-shilling duty on houses; besides cottages that paid nothing. By cottages are understood those who neither pay to church or poor, and are, by act of parliament in 1747, in consideration of the poverty of the people, declared to be exempted both from the [467] tax and the two-shillings duty, and they only remain not accurately known, to ascertain the whole number of houses. ”

“ The rooms are so large that the poor cannot afford them unless they overcrowd them; or they have tiny windows because they were limited by the old window tax. There is only one thing to do for them, as is the case with most institutions: blow them up. ”

“ In a very few days we shall learn how Ministers are to meet the opposition which the absurd and incoherent financial statement of Sir Charles Wood has provoked. We have seen bad budgets before, but this is incomparably the worst that was ever devised. The obnoxious and unjust Income Tax is to be renewed, solely for the purpose of bolstering up Free Trade, and the removal of the Window Duties is to be nearly neutralised by the imposition of a house tax! The "happy family," it must be owned, have an especial 384 talent for making themselves universally unpopular. ”

“ But I pass from these considerations to approach the question whether the inclusion of rentals from real estate in an income tax renders such a tax to that extent 'direct' under the constitution, because it constitutes the imposition of a direct tax on the land itself.
Does the inclusion of the rentals from real estate in the sum going to make up the aggregate income from which (in order to arrive at taxable income) is to be deducted insurance, repairs, losses in business, and $4,000 exemption, make the tax on income so ascertained a direct tax on such real estate? ”

“ Revenues of the city from its electric light business are required by the city charter, article VIII, § 9, to be deposited in a special 'city light fund,' separate from the general funds of the city, and transfer from one fund to the other, except by direction of the city council, is forbidden by the city charter. Article IX, § 17. Section 6 of the ordinance, in terms, imposes the same tax on the city 'so far as permitted by law,' as that levied on appellant. ”

“ Again, a physical present value for taxation should not include the value of paving in the street in the strip occupied by street-railway tracks. That the street-railway company often pays an arbitrary assessment tax and keeps the paving in repair, though it is in no way responsible for the wear, should be sufficient to offset any obligation for other taxes. In some States this is fixed by the Courts. The physical valuation, however, intended to be used in connection with rates, cost, or capital regulation, should include the cost of paving the railway strip. ”

“ The cost of acquiring land outside of the city limits must be paid out of the general tax levy or [Pg 70] by a bond issue which is a charge on future general tax levies; but within the city limits land for parks, parkways, public squares, and boulevards, whether acquired by purchase or condemnation, may be paid for by special assessment on the land specially benefited. Special assessments are also used to defray the cost of construction of boulevards and park roads on which private property abuts and are levied directly on such property, as in an ordinary street improvement. ”

“ The Building tax is 3.2 per cent on the rental value, and is paid by the owner. The Personal tax places a fixed capitation on every citizen, varying from 1s. 3d. to 3s. 9d. according to the department. The Habitation tax is paid by every one occupying a house or apartments in proportion to the rent. The Trade License tax embraces all trades, and consists of a fixed duty levied on the extent of business as revealed by the number of employés, and population, and the locality, and so on, and [Pg 60] also an assessment on the letting value of the premises. ”

“ In most cases, to be sure, there is no legal limitation upon the amount of taxes which the city officials can exact from the people; the limit is a purely practical one. Most of the city’s revenue comes from taxes upon real property—on lands and buildings (see pp. 445-446) . By raising the tax rate on such property additional revenue can be secured up to a certain point. But when the tax rate keeps on increasing year after year it finally reaches a level where it becomes an obstacle to the erection of new buildings; it deters new industries from coming to the city ”

“ As much of it as is a tax on building-rent must ultimately fall on the consumer, in other words, the occupier. For, as the profits of building are already not above the ordinary rate, they would, if the tax fell on the owner and not on the occupier, become lower than the profits of untaxed employments, and houses would not be built. ”

“ Taxes upon the sale of new-built houses, where the building is sold without the ground, fall generally upon the buyer, because the builder must generally have his profit; otherwise he must give up the trade. If he advances the tax, therefore, the buyer must generally repay it to him. Taxes upon the sale of old houses, for the same reason as those upon the sale of land, fall generally upon the seller; whom, in most cases, either conveniency or necessity obliges to sell. The number of new-built houses that are annually brought to market, is more or less regulated by the demand. ”

“ During most of the 19th century, the chief source of funds for financing city and town streets was some form of real estate tax, which fell into three major classes:
Property taxes levied against all real property for general purposes, the proceeds going into the general funds, from which appropriations were made for highway and other purposes. Property taxes levied against all real property specifically for street purposes. ”

“ One important way to help homeowners during this time of housing market stress is for Congress to change a key part of the Federal tax code. Under current law, when a lender forgives part of a mortgage to help its customer stay afloat, that amount is treated as taxable income. When your home is losing value and your family is under financial stress, the last thing you need is to be hit with higher taxes. So I'm working with members of both parties to pass a bill that will protect homeowners from having to pay taxes on cancelled mortgage debt. ”

“ But in view of the extraordinary character of the projected improvement of Meyer boulevard, proceedings were had under section 28 of article VIII of the City Charter. This section, printed so far as relevant in the margin, [1] establishes a procedure which may be followed for levying a special tax on any lands benefited when the improvement involves an 'unusual amount of filling in or cutting or grading away * * * necessitating an expense of such magnitude as to impose too heavy a burden on the land situate in the benefit district as limited in section three. ”

“ Even if the Wherry Act be read as including § 6 of the Leasing Act, we should rebel at the application now given it. Section 6 of the Leasing Act, if applicable only subjects the 'lessee's interest' to local taxation. Yet the Court allows the local tax to be placed on the entire value of the property. Its justification apparently is the low annual rental charged by the United States to the lessee, the length of the lease, and the useful life of the buildings and improvements. The 'enjoyment of the entire worth' of the property will be the lessee's, says the Court. ”

“ There can be no doubt, for example, that if we abolished rates, and put the whole of the local government taxes upon ground rents, though the tenant might not have to pay for his house quite as much in additional ground rent as he saved in rates, and though for a time many owners of ground rents would be hard hit by the change, still the land-owners would in the long run be able to transfer much of that tax back again upon the tenants in the form of increased ground rent. ”

“ Those purchasing a plot must pay the tax on the assessment, whether it is built on or not. Plots are reserved not only as sites for schools, city hall, parks, and other public purposes, but to provide by their sale, when the value has enhanced by natural increment, for the building and possibly the maintenance of the schools and other public institutions. Thus, at Regina, I was shown the new City Hall, built at a cost of £100,000, and was told it had not cost a penny in rates, for the whole of the cost was met by the sale of municipal reservations of land. ”

“ So it must be admitted that a tax upon any article of personal property, that may become a subject of commerce, or upon any instrument of commerce, affects commerce itself. If the tax be upon the instrument, such as a stage-coach, a railroad car, or a canal, or steamboat, its tendency is to increase the cost of transportation. Still it is not a tax upon transportation, or upon commerce, and it has never been seriously doubted that such a tax may be laid. A tax upon landlords as such affects rents, and generally increases them, but it would be a misnomer to call it a tax upon tenants. ”

“ The block of buildings we have supposed is liable to taxation only upon its value in proportion to the value of the entire property, to be ascertained by assessment, and when the proportion is ascertained and paid, it is no longer or further liable. It is discharged. The residue of the tax is to be obtained from other sources. ”

“ The traveler who stops at one of the great city hotels can not avoid reimbursing the owner for the tax he primarily pays on the property; and the owner, in respect to the taxation of his hotel property, is but a great and effective real-estate and diffused tax collector. Again, the farmer charges taxes in the price of his products ”

“ Doors as well as windows of manufacturing establishments are not taxable except to those in the dwelling part.
Again, what is called a mobiliary tax of France is governed by the amount of rent paid or the rentable value of the dwelling of the taxpayer. That portion of a house used exclusively for trade or a similar purpose and not for a residence is not counted in the valuation of the rentable value like a furnished house or a private chapel; but premises or dependencies of dwelling houses, courts, stables, and carriage houses of luxury, clubs, societies, and Masonic lodges are counted in. ”