The
Stamp Act of 1712 (cited either as 10 Ann. c. 18 or as 10 Ann. c. 19
[1]), an act passed in the United Kingdom on 1 August 1712, created a new tax on publishers, particularly publishers of newspapers.
The stamp tax was a tax on each newspaper, and thus hit cheaper papers and popular readership harder than wealthy consumers because the tax formed a higher proportion of the purchase price. The Stamp tax was increased in 1797, reduced in 1836 and was finally ended in 1855, thus finally allowing a cheap press to flourish in England.
The initial assessed rate of tax was one penny per whole newspaper sheet, a halfpenny for a half sheet, and one shilling per advertisement contained within. Each publication was required to bear a tax stamp, proving that the tax was paid. The tax is blamed for the decline of English literature critical of the government during the period, notably with
The Spectator ending the same year of the tax's enactment.
