A much-loathed method of taxation based on earnings. It was first collected in 1797 by the Dutch Batavian Republic. In the UK it was introduced in 1799 as a “temporary” measure to finance a war against Napoleon, abolished in 1816 and reintroduced, forever, in 1842. In most countries, people do not pay it until their income exceeds a minimum threshold, and richer people pay a higher rate of income tax than poorer people. Since the 1980s, the unpopularity with voters of high rates of income tax and concern that high rates discourage valuable economic activity have led many governments to reduce income-tax rates. However, this has not necessarily reduced the amount of total revenue collected in income tax (see Laffer curve). Nor do governments that have reduced income tax rates always cut other sorts of taxes; on the contrary, they have often increased them sharply to make up for any revenue lost as a result of lower rates of income tax.