Apparently the only two certainties in life are Death and Taxes.
Death is unavoidable. It will come to all of us some time no matter how long Science and Modern Medicine extend our lives. Taxes are different. They are not unavoidable despite Despots, Emperors, Kings, Princes, Robber Barons and Dictators taxing us since the dawn of time, usually to raise money for their own comfort, good or ill works and civil and or foreign wars.
DEATH 1883. Mourning Cover. SHANKLIN, IOW, 'MY 25 83' to WYNBERG 'JU 21 83'. 2½d stamp applied in GB. Postage Due Tax to pay is presumably 3d. 3d Postage Due to pay cancelled with Cape Barred Diamond Numeral Canceller.| NO IDEA WHAT THE '9½' REFERS TO. IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THIS, PLEASE ADVISE. THANKS.
Income tax was first introduced in Britain in 1799 by Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger as a temporary measure to fund the high cost of the Napoleonic Wars. (This was four years afrer the First British Occupation of the Cape.) The tax was repealed in 1816 after the war ended but almost inevitably it was reintroduced in 1842 by Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel as a temporary measure to fund budget deficits. It remained in place permanently. It became an election issue. The Whig Party (later the Liberal Party) fiercely contested Peel's reintroduction of Income Tax. Incredibly this position did not win them the election.
During the 1874 British general election, Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone made the absolute repeal of Income Tax his flagship campaign promise. The Liberals lost the election in a surprise defeat. Benjamin Disraeli and the Conservative Party won with a majority. Ironically, Gladstone's Conservative rival, Disraeli, had also promised he would eliminate the tax if elected. However, once he took power, Disraeli's Conservative government quietly kept the tax in place. Following this election, the idea of completely abolishing income tax was permanently dropped by the major British political parties.
In the USA the first U.S. Federal Income Tax was enacted in 1861/1862 during the Civil War by President Abraham Lincoln to fund the war effort. This tax was repealed in 1872 but was permanently reintroduced in 1913 by President Woodrow Wilson who signed the Revenue Act of 1913.
There are a lot of postal history covers that show Death and or Taxes in one form or another. There are Mourning Covers showing bereavement as well as Official covers demanding the Payment of Taxes, personal or otherwise. If you have some please post them below.
TAXES 1917. Entire Folded Tax Form. POTCHEFSTROOM '16 APR 17' to POTCHEFSTROOM. This is a FINAL DEMAND from the RESIDENT MAGISTRATE for payment of £48 8d Income Tax.
Apparently the only two certainties in life are Death and Taxes.
Death is unavoidable. It will come to all of us some time no matter how long Science and Modern Medicine extend our lives. Taxes are different. They are not unavoidable despite Despots, Emperors, Kings, Princes, Robber Barons and Dictators taxing us since the dawn of time, usually to raise money for their own comfort, good or ill works and civil and or foreign wars.
DEATH 1883. Mourning Cover. SHANKLIN, IOW, 'MY 25 83' to WYNBERG 'JU 21 83'. 2½d stamp applied in GB. Postage Due Tax to pay is presumably 3d. 3d Postage Due to pay cancelled with Cape Barred Diamond Numeral Canceller.| NO IDEA WHAT THE '9½' REFERS TO. IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THIS, PLEASE ADVISE. THANKS.
Income tax was first introduced in Britain in 1799 by Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger as a temporary measure to fund the high cost of the Napoleonic Wars. (This was four years afrer the First British Occupation of the Cape.) The tax was repealed in 1816 after the war ended but almost inevitably it was reintroduced in 1842 by Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel as a temporary measure to fund budget deficits. It remained in place permanently. It became an election issue. The Whig Party (later the Liberal Party) fiercely contested Peel's reintroduction of Income Tax. Incredibly this position did not win them the election.
During the 1874 British general election, Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone made the absolute repeal of Income Tax his flagship campaign promise. The Liberals lost the election in a surprise defeat. Benjamin Disraeli and the Conservative Party won with a majority. Ironically, Gladstone's Conservative rival, Disraeli, had also promised he would eliminate the tax if elected. However, once he took power, Disraeli's Conservative government quietly kept the tax in place. Following this election, the idea of completely abolishing income tax was permanently dropped by the major British political parties.
In the USA the first U.S. Federal Income Tax was enacted in 1861/1862 during the Civil War by President Abraham Lincoln to fund the war effort. This tax was repealed in 1872 but was permanently reintroduced in 1913 by President Woodrow Wilson who signed the Revenue Act of 1913.
There are a lot of postal history covers that show Death and or Taxes in one form or another. There are Mourning Covers showing bereavement as well as Official covers demanding the Payment of Taxes, personal or otherwise. If you have some please post them below.
TAXES 1917. Entire Folded Tax Form. POTCHEFSTROOM '16 APR 17' to POTCHEFSTROOM. This is a FINAL DEMAND from the RESIDENT MAGISTRATE for payment of £48 8d Income Tax.
