In Britain, which prime minister introduced the first modern income tax in 1799?

William Pitt the Younger introduced Britain’s first modern income tax in 1799.

Pitt introduced the tax during the French Revolutionary Wars to raise money for Britain’s military effort. It was designed as a graduated levy on income and formed part of a broader wartime attempt to increase government revenue without relying solely on duties on goods.

The tax was abolished after the peace of Amiens in 1802, then reintroduced in 1803 when war resumed. It was abolished again in 1816. Britain later restored income tax in 1842 under Robert Peel, and it subsequently became a permanent feature of the tax system.