[84] Some think that just as Taxes and Death are the two certain things in life, so have Taxes been here from time immemorial.
But the first ever tax to be introduced in England was in 1572, the Poor Law Tax, which was the best solution Queen Elizabeth could find for the sudden increase in the number of the poor.
The blame could be squarely placed at her predecessor, Henri VIII, whose lust drove him to establish a new religion.
This resulted in hundreds of thousands of unemployed monks and nuns, the nouveau-poor.
While Henri VIII confiscated the Church´s riches for himself, the religious rug was pulled from under the feet of the English population.
Whereas till then religious values and social pressure dictated that alms should be given to the poor, Henri´s flip-flop resulted in the disillusionment of the people. Up until then everyone felt noble when parting with a penny to help the poor, but now they took example from their monarch, and couldn’t care less about others.
The rest is history: Taxes of all sorts and justifications were introduced ever since, and by now they seem as essential and as unavoidable, as the sun which circles the earth.