VI – XIV. Equal taxation

From the union, all taxes were equalised and all subsidies, and this meant adopting the taxes then current in England throughout Great Britain, and all subsidies and rewards also.

Temporary exceptions were made however, exempting Scotland from certain of these taxes:

• Scotland’s prohibition on importing grain from Ireland and overseas remained “until more proper and effectual Ways be provided by the Parliament of Great Britain”
• Various excise duties on beer and ale not to be imposed until the English duty expired
• Excise duty on salt not to be imposed on salt made in Scotland for a period of seven years (and many complicated arrangements were included to deal with salt and salted flesh on a temporary basis until the excise duties be reviewed)
• Land tax was anticipated, of which Scotland should bear only 2.4% of that charged to England
• Stamp duties not to apply in Scotland until renewed
• Window tax not to be charged until expiry in 1710
• Coal duty not to be charged (except on exported coal) until expiry in 1710
• Malt tax not to be charged until its expiry in June 1707, nor (by a separate provision) during the war then current (the War of the Spanish Succession, which ended at last in 1713)

After these exemptions expired, Parliament had a free hand with tax and duties, provided that there be equality, and this on the basis that:

And seeing it cannot be supposed that the Parliament of Great Britain will ever lay any sort of Burthens upon the United Kingdom, but what they shall find of Necessity at that Time for the Preservation and Good of the Whole, and with due regard to the Circumstances and Abilities of every part of the United Kingdom; therefore it is agreed, That there be no further Exemption insisted upon for any part of the United Kingdom, but that the Consideration of any Exemptions beyond what are already agreed on in this Treaty, shall be left to the Determination of the Parliament of Great Britain.

In fact, in a technical breach of the strict terms, further exemptions were permitted to Scotland for a time after the expiry of the agreed exemptions, a politic move since certain of these duties were ill-received in the chief towns of the north.

The malt tax was the cause of later riots. The exemption was a temporary article only, extending only until the end of the war then current (which ended in 1713). In the event, no malt tax was extended to Scotland then. In 1724 though, revenues were low and Parliament introduced a new malt tax which exempted Scotland, an unwarranted exemption, and instead imposed a sixpence levy on every barrel of ale. Now, "to rob a poor man of his beer" was scandalous and so the ale duty was abandoned and instead the exemption from malt tax was removed in part: it would be charged at half the level in Scotland. This still caused rioting in Glasgow (riots which caused more loss to the men of Glasgow than the tax ever would).

Tax should logically have been the major problem of the union, yet it is not found amongst the complaints laid against it in the petitions presented, with one exception: salt. The English salt tax yielded a good income to the exchequer, but salt is vital to the preservation of fish, and the fishermen of Scotland looked at the threat of such a tax with horror. For this reason the Treaty contained a detailed temporary provision for a salt tax exemption: firstly, as Scottish merchants imported salt in great quantities, they would enjoy a system for cellaring their salt in the charge of customs officers, and pay customs duty only as an when they needed it. Secondly, salt made in Scotland would be exempt from tax for seven years, and thirdly, after the seven years Parliament would find a way to levy the tax equitably. In addition, there is detailed provision on the duties applicable to where salt (foreign, British, Irish or mixed) is used for salting fish or flesh for export, and while it would be tempting to evade the tax by falsely classifying a consignment of salt as intended for salting exported meat, so the Treaty invited Parliament to deal with that sort of fraud. Thankfully the provision was a temporary one, leaving it for the Parliament of Great Britain to work a sensible system out in due course.

Overall, tax paid by Scots was to increase at the union as a result of equalisation: contrarily the long demand for equality was granted, but the equality was on occasion uncomfortable. Scotland’s tax had been lower because Scotland was poorer and less able to pay: in 1707, the revenue of Scotland was less than 3% that of England, which had had the result that the Privy Council in Edinburgh was in constant crisis and a deep pocket could buy a great many favours. The tax was lighter because the land was poorer; no poorer than many regions of England that paid their full tax, but that was scant comfort for those tradesmen paying more duty on their goods; in time, the opportunities opened by the union and by peace would bring at least Lowland Scotland up to equality with its neighbour, but the early years were a shock. It was made worse as tax clerks and officers had to be imported from England who were familiar with the system, and they attracted disgust by acting in as crass and arrogant a manner as they were wont to do in England.

Looking at this 300 years later, were we to be taxed at no higher than the rates prevailing in 1707, we would be happy indeed.

However to resist union because Scotland was too poor for it, when the union was the solution to end that poverty, would be eccentric to say the least.