Hearth, Window & Land Taxes

Taxation will never be a popular subject and Poll taxes, those levied on individuals rather than property or wealth, with everyone over a certain age, and not otherwise exempt, being liable to pay a given amount, have been universally unpopular over time. Taxation based on a fairer, wealth related formula, though more difficult to assess and administer, is much more likely to be accepted, however the idea of an income tax was unpopular too. Many people in 17th Century Britain opposed income tax on principle, because they believed that the disclosure of personal income represented an unacceptable government intrusion into their private affairs. The first Income Tax wasn't to appear until the late 18th century and still remained very controversial well into the 19th century, but before its introduction, a number of taxes which were intended to reflect the relative prosperity of the taxpayer, without prying too deeply into their personal affairs had been tried :-

Hearth Tax was the first form of regular individual taxation, previously taxes had largely been raised as and when needed and levied on communities. The Hearth Tax was also roughly based on the ability of the individual to pay. It was relatively short lived, being introduced by the government of Charles II in 1662 at a time of serious financial shortages, and repealed by William and Mary in 1689.
Each year the householder had to pay 2 shillings per hearth contained within their property. The money was due in two payments collected on Michaelmas (29 September) and Lady Day (25 March). Those in receipt of poor relief, whose houses were worth less than 20 shillings a year or who paid neither church nor poor rates were exempt, also charitable institutions such as schools and almshouses, and industrial hearths, but smiths' forges and bakers' ovens were included. A revision in 1664 made the tax payable by all who had more than two chimneys.
The administration of the tax was complex, assessment wasn't straightforward, and the assessment and collection methods changed over time, with private tax collectors, who didn't submit records to the Exchequer, administering the tax for some of the period. This means that the survival of Hearth tax records is patchy, but the Hearth Tax provides an indication of the size of the house at the time, as the numbers of hearths are generally proportional to the size of the house.

Hearth Tax Online provides access to a full transcript of the West Riding Hearth Tax for Lady Day 1672, as well as much further information and analysis of the tax returns, maps etc.
Some Exemption Certificates are available at the National Archives under the following references:

E179/349/3/270 : Kirkeby Malhamdale in Craven - 28 Apr 1674
E179/349/3/136 : Otterborne - 22 Oct 1670
E179/349/2/278 : Gargrave Parish, Eshton - 22 Sep1670
E179/349/2/282 & 283 : Burnsall, Hetton chaplery Rilston (Hetton cum
Boardley) - 10 Dec 1670

Also see the National Archives Guide to Hearth Tax

Window Tax replaced the Hearth Tax in 1696 and it was relatively unintrusive and easy to assess, however it was still unpopular and seen by some as a tax on "light and air". The taxpayer was usually the occupier rather than the owner and they often attempted to camouflage or block up the windows to avoid payment. To this day you can see numerous bricked-up windows on smaller Georgian villas, though these can be confused with "dummy" windows used to maintain the symmetry and proportion of a building.
When introduced, Window Tax consisted of two parts: a flat-rate portion charged at 2 shillings per house and a variable tax based on the number of windows above ten. Properties with between ten and twenty windows paid a total of four shillings, and those above twenty windows paid eight shillings. The tax was increased no fewer than six times between 1747 and 1808. In 1747 the charges were: 10-14 windows at 6d per window, 15-19 windows at 9d, and 20 or more windows at 1s. The number of windows above which you incurred tax was reduced to seven in 1766 and increased again to eight in 1825. Like the Hearth Tax there were exemptions for people who were ineligible for church or poor rates.
In 1778 the flat-rate portion of the Window Tax that was levied on the property, was changed to a variable rate House Tax, dependent on the property value. Window Tax was not repealed until 1851,when it was replaced by House Duty.

Land Tax ran alongside the window tax and was imposed in 1693 under the terms of "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". The Act specified that real estate and personal property, that is buildings & moveable goods as well as land, were to be taxed. The tax was voted annually until 1798 when it was transformed into a permanent tax, but also became redeemable on payment of a lump sum.
It was levied on a number of different bases over the years: as a pound rate between 1693 & 1696; as a 4 shillings assessment supplemented by a poll tax in 1697; and from 1698-1798 on the system whereby each county or borough was given a fixed sum to collect. In 1949 redemption became compulsory on property changing hands and in 1963 all unredeemed land tax was abolished.
Land Tax Assessment records are valuable to historians because they list year by year the names of the owners of land, and usually the names of the occupiers, also providing some indication of their social standing. The assessments are to be found in the local record offices because they were the responsibility of local tax commissioners. The Tax Office in London took very little interest in them, only that it received each year the amount of money assessed for the county from from the County Receiver. The Receiver's accounts are in the National Archives under the reference E 181, but offer no information on individual properties. However when Pitt made the 1798 land tax both perpetual and redeemable, central records of redemption had to be kept and those are in the National Archives in the class IR 23.

The Roehampton University Hearth Tax Project in association with the British Record Society have published the Yorkshire West Riding Hearth Tax Assessment Lady Day 1672, which is vol.V in their Hearth Tax Series. It is an extensive publication containing around 44,000 names; in-depth historical, architectural and codicological commentaries; fourteen full-colour maps and numerous full colour illustrations.

The Roehampton Project has led to the launch of a dedicated website called Hearth Tax Online. This appears to contain the complete text of the above book, with the full, descriptive introduction, downloadable transcript of the West Riding Hearth Tax for 1672 with a surname index plus various maps and analysis of the data.

On a less ambitious scale, The Ripon Historical Society And Family History Group have published a very affordable series of Hearth Tax booklets with transcriptions of entries for all three Ridings of Yorkshire. This includes one which covers the Staincliffe and Ewcros Wapentakes of the West Riding for Lady Day 1672, ie. all the Craven area from the Wharfe valley toward the west.