What Was The Hearth Tax?

The hearth tax or hearth money was a tax on the number of hearths or fireplaces in a building. It was charged between 1662 and 1689 in England and between 1662 and 1690 in Scotland.

The tax was two shillings for each hearth or stove and was collected from the occupier of the house in two instalments, one on Lady Day at the end of March and one at Michaelmas in October.

There were many exemptions to the tax; those receiving poor relief did not have to pay it, charitable institutions, and those too poor to afford a house with a rateable value of less than 20 shillings per year.

Industrial hearths such as those at blacksmith's forges and bakeries were taxed.

Hearth tax records are useful for family historians because they provide an indication of the size of the houses during this period and the wealth of the neighbourhood. Individual people are rarely mentioned, however.