Ahh….it’s the end of January, and The Tax Man Cometh…..

I opened my mailbox on December 31 once and discovered the tax forms in it. It must have been a bad year for the government – I’d never gotten them before the first of the year before!

While scrolling through Schott’s Original Miscellany, I found this:

Lest we forget that one of the reasons for declaring our independence from England was taxation practices, here’s a list of weird things that were once taxed in that country -

1. Hats (1784-1811)  Taxes were levied according to the value of the hat.  The more expensive, the greater the percentage.
2. Gloves (1785 – 1794)
3. Almanacs! (1711-1834)
4. Dice (1711-1862)
5. Hair-Powder  (1786-1869)
6. Perfume (1786-1800)
7. Wallpaper (1712-1836)
8. Windows (1697-1851)  Houses with 10-20 windows were charged a specific amount, and those with over 20 a larger one (Yay! I only have 9 -  unless they count the windows in the doors….).  The windows were exempt if ‘blocked’ – permanently filled with materials matching the adjacent walls.  Inspectors were assigned to periodically check to be sure the windows had not been ‘broken out’ after tax time.   Over time the tax grew unpopular ( imagine that….) and beside, it kept residents from getting fresh air and daylight, so it was eventually abolished.

See…things could be worse…..

I’ll leave you with one more thought.  Each year, as I fill out my tax forms, Samuel Johnson’s quotation comes to mind -  “Whatever you have, spend less.”

Then I complete the form.  I use the REALLY short one.  You know, the one that says

HOW MUCH DID YOU MAKE____________

SEND IT IN