Income Tax in United Kingdom

Introduction to Income Tax

“Great Britain was the first country -in accordance to Bamber Gascoigne´ Encyclopedia of Britain about the entry income tax– to introduce income tax. In 1799 William Pitt, needing funds for the war against France, levied 10% per annum on incomes over £200, with a reduced rate for lower incomes and exemption below £60. The tax was lifted at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. It was next imposed in 1842, again as a temporary measure and now at only about 3%. But this time it stuck. In World War I it reached the unprecedented level of 30% with a surcharge on high incomes. The pattern was thus set for a standard tax up to a certain level and then a succession of higher rates.”