Taxation Records

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18th Century Taxation

After 1748 certain assessed taxes were levied in Scotland and lists of those assessed to pay them survive in the Exchequer records. The Window, Commutation, Inhabited House and Consolidated Assessed Taxes were all taxes on householders though in practice only the better off were taxed. The house had to have at least 7 windows or a rent of at least £5 to be taxed. The war with France from 1793 onwards resulted in the extension of taxation to other forms of property and imposed additional duties on those already taxed. The records of each tax are organised by county and parish with royal burghs listed separately (NRS reference E326).

NRS has begun uploading some of these assessed tax rolls to the ScotlandsPlaces website.

Tax	Description	Dates	Reference	Online Availability
Window Tax	Names of householders, number of houses and number of windows in houses with seven or more windows	1747/8-1798	E326/1	On ScotlandsPlaces website
Commutation Tax	As above: in substitution (commutation) for excise duties on tea	1784-1798	E326/2	Not online
Inhabited House Tax	The names of householders and annual value of houses	1778-1798	E326/3	On ScotlandsPlaces website
Shop Tax	The names of the shopkeepers (rarely their business) and annual value of shops over £5. Many gaps	1785-1789	E326/4	On ScotlandsPlaces website
Male Servants' Tax	Tax Imposed on certain categories of employed or retained manservants. Names of masters or mistresses, names of servants, sometimes their jobs	1777-1798	E326/5	On ScotlandsPlaces website
Female Servants' Tax	Names of masters or mistresses, names of servants, sometimes their jobs	1785-1792	E326/6	On ScotlandsPlaces website
Cart Tax	Names of owners and numbers of 2, 3 or 4 wheeled carts	1785-1798	E326/7	On ScotlandsPlaces website
Carriage Tax	Names of owners and number of 2 or 4 wheeled carriages	1785-1798	E326/8	On ScotlandsPlaces website
Horse Tax	Names of owners and number of carriage and saddle horses	1785-1798	E326/9	On ScotlandsPlaces website
Farm Horse Tax	Names of owner and number of horses and mules used in husbandry or trade	1797-1798	E326/10	On ScotlandsPlaces website
Dog Tax	Names of owners and number of non-working dogs	1797-1798	E326/11	On ScotlandsPlaces website
Clock and Watch Tax	Names of owners and number of clocks, gold watches and silver or metal watches	1797-1798	E326/12	On ScotlandsPlaces website
Aid and Contribution Tax	Only the lists for Peebleshire survive. Imposed on persons already assessed to pay duties on houses for one year only. Replaced by income tax in 1799	1797-1798	E326/13	Not online
Income Tax	Names of inhabitants. First imposed in 1799 on annual incomes of £60 or over arising from property or profession, trade and office. Two fire-damaged volumes containing counties A- L, Perthshire and West Lothian. Midlothian is covered in E327/18-41	1799-1802	E326/14	Not online
Consolidated Schedules of Assessed Taxes	Names of householders, value of houses, number of windows, male servants, carriages, horses and dogs. Counties: Aberdeenshire -Midlothian, West Lothian; also burghs	1798-1799	E326/15	On ScotlandsPlaces website

Assessed tax rolls in the NRS

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