Alcohol duties, tonnage and poundage, and Charles I

When did duties on alcoholic drinks begin in Britain, and how did the different taxes develop?

Medieval import duties and Civil War-era domestic beer excise were separate levies, with later changes to the customs regime.

The opening disagreement concerns two different taxes: customs duties on imported drink and excise on beer produced at home. Tonnage and poundage belong to the import-trade history, while the domestic beer duty is placed in the Civil War period by a participant drawing on excise training. The distinction prevents several tax histories from being treated as one levy with one starting date. Customs revenue also became a constitutional issue for Charles I. Parliament's one-year grant did not stop him continuing to collect, and the seizure of a member's goods intensified the dispute. The argument then connects collection without renewed authority with the breakdown between king and Parliament. Chaucer's customs work and links to the wine trade provide an example of the commercial world behind the duties.