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A brief history of income tax

Use the information in this section to give your pupils an insight into the history of Income Tax. This set of materials was written in 1999 to celebrate the Bicentenary of Income Tax. The topics covered are:

  • A tax to beat Napoleon
  • Income tax is back
  • Gladstone vs Disraeli
  • World War I and a new approach
  • Peace and the general strike
  • World War II and PAYE
  • Income tax today

You may want to use this information as a base for one of your lessons, perhaps devising a quiz around the facts contained in the following pages.

A brief history of income tax

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