Curtain tax
The term curtain tax refers to a tax allegedly imposed in the Netherlands on the size of the window decorations . This curtain tax would have induced the Dutch to use only short curtains or no curtains at all. One suspected background of the modern legend is an attempt to explain the apartments or living rooms on the front that are common in the Netherlands and are openly visible from the street.
It is more likely, however, that the Calvinist Netherlands show their openness and express that they have nothing to hide. However, there was a personal tax in the Netherlands from 1821 to 1896 , which included furniture, servants, horses and the value of the house and the number of windows. A window cost 40 cents in smaller communities and 1.10 guilders per year in larger ones . There was also a window tax in England and France , which is why homeowners often bricked up some windows.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christoph Drösser : Nothing to hide , column right ? on time online on 15 September, 2009.