Treasury Reportedly Considering Bringing Back Window Tax, Assures Public ''It Worked in 1696''

The Treasury is reportedly examining the feasibility of reintroducing a tax on windows — the same levy that existed between 1696 and 1851, caused widespread bricking-up of buildings across Britain, and is generally regarded by historians as “one of the most hated taxes in English history, and there is competition.”

The proposal, which sources say emerged from a cross-departmental brainstorming session described internally as “desperate but thorough,” would see homeowners charged an annual fee based on the number of windows in their property. A sliding scale is understood to be under consideration, beginning at £120 per year for properties with six to nine windows and rising to £480 for those with fifteen or more.

Properties with five or fewer windows would be exempt, in what officials are calling “the darkness threshold.”

The Rationale

According to a leaked Treasury paper marked “DRAFT — NOT FOR CIRCULATION — ESPECIALLY NOT THE DAILY MAIL,” the window tax is being explored as a revenue-raising measure that does not require primary legislation, does not affect income tax thresholds, and — crucially — “can be presented as a property tax rather than a wealth tax, which polling shows is nine points more popular.”

The paper notes that Britain”s housing stock contains an estimated 580 million windows, representing what one official calculated as “a virtually untapped fiscal surface area.”

“The income tax base is squeezed. National Insurance has been raised. Council tax is politically toxic. At a certain point you have to look at what else people have, and people have windows.” — Senior Treasury official

The Historical Precedent

The original window tax was introduced by William III in 1696 as an alternative to income tax, on the basis that the number of windows in a house was a reasonable proxy for wealth. It remained in force for 155 years, during which time it produced two notable outcomes:

1. Revenue: Modest but reliable.
2. Architectural vandalism: Widespread and irreversible.

Across England, homeowners bricked up windows to reduce their liability, a practice so common that the phrase “daylight robbery” is widely believed to derive from it. Entire streets in cities such as Edinburgh, Bath, and York still bear the scars — rows of handsome Georgian buildings with mysteriously sealed apertures, standing as monuments to the enduring British principle that people will do absolutely anything to avoid paying tax.

The Treasury paper addresses this history in a footnote: “It is accepted that the original window tax led to adverse behavioural responses. However, modern glazing standards and the prevalence of open-plan living suggest that bricking up windows is now less practical than in the eighteenth century.”

When shown this footnote, a housing policy researcher at the University of Sheffield said: “Has anyone at the Treasury met a British homeowner?”

The Bands

The proposed bands, as described in the leaked document, are as follows:

The document notes that bay windows would count as one window “unless they are the really big ones,” a phrase that has reportedly caused significant confusion among HMRC assessors already tasked with drafting implementation guidance.

Skylights would be counted. Velux windows would be counted. Cat flaps with transparent panels would not be counted “unless they exceed 30cm in diameter, at which point they become a window for tax purposes.”

“I have a conservatory. It is essentially all windows. Am I going to be taxed into the Bronze Age?” — Homeowner, Cheltenham

The Public Response

News of the proposal — which the Treasury has neither confirmed nor denied, instead issuing a statement that “the government keeps all taxes under review,” the fiscal equivalent of “no comment” — has been met with a mixture of outrage, disbelief, and immediate enquiries to local builders about bricking services.

Google searches for “how to brick up a window” increased by 3,400% within two hours of the story leaking. Searches for “do conservatories count as rooms” rose by 1,800%. Searches for “move to Ireland” rose by a more modest but emotionally significant 600%.

A representative of the Federation of Master Builders said his members had received “dozens of calls” asking about window removal, adding: “We thought it was a prank. It wasn”t a prank. People are measuring their windows right now.”

B&Q has reportedly seen a spike in brick purchases in the South East, though a spokesperson cautioned that “this could also be related to general home improvement activity and not necessarily a mass fenestration panic.”

Political Reaction

The Conservatives called the proposal “a tax on daylight itself.” Reform UK called it “proof that this government will tax the air you breathe, and then tax the window you opened to breathe it.” The Liberal Democrats called for “a full impact assessment, particularly on households in listed buildings where bricking up windows would require planning permission, creating a two-tier system in which only the rich can afford to avoid the tax by not avoiding the tax.”

Labour backbenchers, many of whom represent constituencies with Victorian terraced housing featuring an average of eleven windows per property, have described the policy as “unhelpful” — a word that in parliamentary terms sits approximately halfway between “concerned” and “open mutiny.”

One senior Labour MP, speaking anonymously, told Pribber: “We have taxed jobs. We have taxed pensions. We have taxed farmers. And now we are going to tax looking outside. I joined this party to reduce inequality, not to return the country to a pre-Enlightenment relationship with natural light.”

The Precedent Problem

Legal experts have noted that the original window tax was repealed in 1851 specifically because it was found to cause public health damage — with sealed-up homes breeding disease and dampness in Britain”s rapidly growing cities. The repeal debate in Parliament at the time described the tax as “a tax upon health, a tax upon comfort, and a tax upon the most essential element of life.”

When asked whether these concerns had been addressed in the current proposal, a Treasury spokesperson said: “Energy-efficient homes now have mechanical ventilation systems that were not available in the nineteenth century. Also, we have antibiotics.”

What Happens Next

The Treasury is understood to be commissioning a “rapid feasibility study,” expected to conclude by April. In the meantime, officials have urged the public not to brick up any windows “based on speculation,” adding that “the government has made no decision” and that “all options remain on the table.”

The table in question, sources confirmed, is positioned next to a window.

Your correspondent files this story from a home office with three windows, which would place him in the “modest fenestration” band. He has measured the cat flap. It is 28cm. He is safe. For now.