Taxation under the early Tudors, 1485-1547 / Roger Schofield.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schofield, Roger.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Taxation--Great Britain--History.

Taxation.

Great Britain.

History.

Great Britain--Economic conditions--16th century.

Economic conditions.

Great Britain--History--1066-1687.

Physical Description:

xvi, 297 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Malden, MA : Blackwell, 2004.

Summary:

If taxation is the mobilization of economic resources for political ends, it is evident that any study of taxation must probe well beyond the administrative technicalities of its subject. Social, economic, political and administrative history are all part of the investigation.The early Tudor period is especially significant in the history of taxation. This new study examines the taxes granted by parliament to the crown between 1485 and 1547. Under Henry VIII, taxation based on the direct assessment of each individual was revived, having been abandoned as unworkable in the fourteenth century. In the long run, the Tudor experiment failed: direct assessment was abandoned again after decades of complaint about evasion and under-assessment in the mid-seventeenth century, and was not restored until the end of the eighteenth century. But examination of the experiment, and of the timing and causes of its failure, throws light on the changing political limits of the Tudor state.

Contents:

The General Nature and Incidence of the Taxes 2

Parliamentary Taxation and National Finance 4

Parliamentary Taxation and the Redress of Grievances 6

2 Parliament 9

Taxation and the Summons of Parliament 9

The Case for Taxation: the Preambles 12

Parliamentary Opposition 15

The Evolution of a Money Bill 19

Drafts and amendments 19

Commons and Lords 23

Indenture and statute: assent 25

3 The Fifteenth and Tenth 27

The Historical Background 27

The Levying of the Tax 29

The appointment of the collectors 29

The charges on the vills 33

The delegation of powers within the vill 35

Local assessment 36

The assessors 36

The basis of assessment 37

Liability through residence 42

Local relief through bequests 43

Local collection 45

The collectors and the problems of collection 45

Opposition to distress: rescues 46

Opposition to distress: actions at law 51

Collective responsibility: unhelpful colleagues 53

The costs of collection 54

The time available for collection 57

Unpopularity of office: limitations and exemptions 58

Exemptions from Liability to the Fifteenth and Tenth 58

Exemption by status 60

Exemption by custom 63

Exemption by statute 63

Exemption by petition to the Barons of the Exchequer 63

Exemption by prerogative grant 65

Secular communities 65

Religious communities 65

4 The Evolution of the Directly Assessed Subsidy 72

The Fifteenth-Century Background 72

The Poll Tax on Aliens of 1488 73

The Subsidy of 1489: Failure 74

The Compromise Forms of 1497 and 1504 79

The Attainment of the Final Form of the Directly Assessed Subsidy 85

The subsidy of 1513 85

The subsidies of 1514, 1515 and 1516 87

The subsidy act of 1523 and after 90

5 The Directly Assessed Subsidies 1513-47 93

The General Administration of the Subsidies 93

Special commissions 98

Exemption and division 100

Ministerial control over the commissioners 101

Assessment 102

What was assessed? 102

Minimum qualifications 104

Rates of payment 105

Increased rates of payment 108

Exemptions from liability to the subsidies 108

Assessment rules 110

The procedure of assessment 116

The timing of the assessments 119

Collection of the Money 119

Local collection: the petty collectors 119

The high collectors 120

The time allowed for collection 121

Legal tender 123

Transferred liability to payment 124

Liability ab initio 124

Liability transferred upon default 125

Difficulties arising during collection 125

Certification 128

The Time Allowed for Levy of the Subsidies 131

Anticipations 133

The Efficiency of the Administration of the Subsidies 135

Efficiency in the certification of assessments 137

The accuracy of the assessments 138

6 The Procedure and the Records of the Exchequer 140

The Exchequer of Receipt 141

Payment by assignment 143

Exchequer terms and payment dates 150

The Exchequer of Account 151

The summons to account 151

The death of a collector 157

Appearance at the Exchequer: attornies 158

The procedure of account 158

Debts upon accounts 161

Enrolment of debts on the Pipe Rolls 165

7 The Yields of the Taxes 168

8 The Efficiency of the Collection of the Taxes 178

Speed of Payment 178

Speed of Account at the Exchequer 184

Defaults by the Collectors 187

The Efficacy of the Forms of Process out of the Exchequer 190

Popular Opposition to Parliamentary Taxation 197

9 Taxation and the Political Limits of the Tudor State 201

Appendix I Taxation Acts and Dates of Payment 219

Appendix II Chancery Enrolments of Commissions 221.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 282-288) and index.

ISBN:

0631152318

OCLC:

53939216