- Source: Duties on Clocks and Watches Act 1797
The Duties on Clocks and Watches Act 1797 (37 Geo. 3. c. 108) was an Act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of Kingdom of Great Britain.
During the last three decades of the eighteenth century, the price of watches declined and consequently they increased in popularity. William Pitt, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, decided to tax watches and clocks. The Act taxed gold watches at 10 shillings and silver and other metal watches at 2s. 6d. The Act also required makers or dealers in watches and clocks to purchase an annual license, costing 2s. 6d. in London and 1 shilling elsewhere.
However, the tax was a failure. It nearly ruined the manufacturers of clocks and watches, with demand for their products declining to such an extent that within a year the manufacture of these items diminished by half. It also caused thousands of workers employed in these trades to emigrate. Consequently, Pitt repealed the tax in April 1798.
See also
Act of Parliament clock
Notes
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Duties on Clocks and Watches Act 1797
- Inland Revenue
- History of taxation in the United Kingdom
- 1797 in Great Britain
- List of acts of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1797
- List of acts of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1798
- Statute Law Revision Act 1861
- List of acts of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1754
- Statute Law Revision Act 1871
- Guangxu Emperor
