Annuity-tax

Annuity-tax, a local impost for the payment of the salaries of the Established clergy of the city of Edinburgh. It was first established on a limited scale by an act of the year 1661; and was extended in its sphere of operation by an act of the legislature as lately as 1809. It amounted at one time to 6 per cent. on the rents of houses and shops within the royalty. It was a peculiarity of this tax that the members of 'the College of Justice,' including the lawyer class generally, enjoyed an exemption from it, as a relic of an ancient privilege by which they were induced to reside and hold the courts of law in Edinburgh. The tax was reduced in 1860; and, under an act passed in 1870, it was redeemed by payment of £56,500 by the Corporation to the Edinburgh Ecclesiastical Commissioners.