when was tax introduced to the UK? (and by whom)? (confusion of answers!!)?

[Marc J]

wikipedia page states that "The income tax was first implemented in Britain by William Pitt the Younger in his budget of December 1798 to pay for weapons and equipment in preparation for the Napoleonic Wars"...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_the_United_Kingdom#cite_note-first-5

BUT...

another wikipedia page says:
William the Conqueror in 1086 had the Doomsday book made to "determine who held what and what taxes had been liable under Edward the Confessor"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesday_Book

so,, I am confused!!

can anyone shed light?

and while you are at it,, does anyone know the VERY FIRST record of tax in the world?

 

[David H]

Governments can impose taxes on all sorts of things. The first time tax was imposed on income was indeed in 1798. Before that taxes had been imposed over the centuries on ownership of land; number of servants; number of windows; number of fireplaces; powder for wigs; quantity of harvest - you name it, somebody thought of it before you!

As for the oldest tax in the world - I don't suppose anybody knows for certain. There is evidence from the Bible that taxation was well known at the time Jesus was around, and there are even earlier records of taxation in the Old Testament (see, for example, Nehemiah 10:32). Even if you take the view that the Bible stories are all fiction, the settings and circumstances (including taxation) were obviously well known to the authors.