The Property Tax of 1912 was an outcome of the Finance (1909-1910) Act which provided for the levy and collection of a duty on the increment value of all land in the United Kingdom. The records (shown below) state the tax was for “Special Expenses chargeable under the Public Health act 1875).
The main object of the Act was to tax that part of the capital appreciation of real property which was attributable to the site itself, i.e. excluding that arising from crops, buildings and improvements paid for by the owners. In this way, private owners were required to surrender to the State part of the increase in the site value of their land which resulted from the expenditure of public money on communal developments such as roads or public services.
The government of Henry Asquith (Liberal) implemented a 1910 tax on increases in land value and undeveloped land with a view to reforming Britain’s system of property taxes. The poor wording of the tax and the resulting administrative complexity meant the costs of collection exceeded tha taxes raised. David Lloyd George (Liberal), the man who introduced the taxes as chancellor in 1910, repealed them as prime minister in 1922.
The Worlington Property Tax records were assessed on 2nd Novermber 1912. The overseers were Richard Adams (Halse Farm) and Edwin Hosegood (Yeatheridge Farm) and the total rateable value for the parish (95 properties and land) was £2,971/5/ – (pre decimal LSD).
You can download the PDF of scans of the property tax book from EW Property Tax 1912.pdf.
The porperty tax book shown below is large and may take a few seconds to download.
EW Property Tax 1912Return to 'Historic Documents'