On This Day...

[Thagarr]

[imgleft]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_cQOyQjTP3GY/SzdzjT8-9qI/AAAAAAAAAIw/UJBFa27Du4w/wiki.gif[/imgleft]On this day in 1799 British Prime Minister William Pitt introduces income tax to raise funds for the war against Napoleon. Now you know who to blame when your filling out those tax forms this year! :

Another important domestic issue with which Pitt had to concern himself was the national debt, which had increased dramatically due to the rebellion of the American colonies. Pitt sought to eliminate the national debt by imposing new taxes. Pitt also introduced measures to reduce smuggling and fraud. In 1786, he instituted a sinking fund to reduce the national debt. Each year, £1,000,000 of the surplus revenue raised by new taxes was to be added to the fund so that it could accumulate interest; eventually, the money in the fund was to be used to pay off the national debt. The system was extended in 1792 so as to take into account any new loans taken by the government.