ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the tax resistance of the Land Union organisation, which was founded in 1910 after the introduction of new taxes on land in Great Britain. The Land Union, which was formed and supported by an influential group of landowners, campaigned for the abolition of these taxes. Through its legal expertise, especially of its president, the landowner and conservative politician E.G. Pretyman, the organisation was able to identify the shortcomings of the law. Publications, advising members, lobbying work in the House of Commons and court cases were the Land Union's main approaches. The court actions proved particularly effective, and the Inland Revenue authority, which was responsible for collecting the taxes, suffered a number of defeats, some of which partly invalidated the valuation. Although the Land Union was not alone in paving the way for the actual abolition of taxes on land in 1920 – assessment was notoriously delayed, highly complex and extremely expensive – the organisation chalked up the abolition of the law it as its own success, and exerted a long-lasting impact on the perception of land taxes.
