Confiscatory tax policies aren’t just burdensome to the working class, but to artists, too:
Uncertainty over the likely future success of his plays led William Shakespeare to do “all he could to avoid taxes,” new research by scholars at Aberystwyth University has claimed.
The collaborative paper: “Reading with the Grain: Sustainability and the Literary Imagination,” shows another side to the bard. It alleges that, in his “other” life as a major landowner, Shakespeare avoided paying his taxes, illegally hoarded food and sidelined in money lending.
Spurred on by the lack of guarantee that his plays would provide a steady income, Shakespeare’s unorthodox behavior in the end enabled him to “retire” in 1613, having established himself as the largest property owner in Stratford-upon-Avon. He escaped with just a few fines for his trouble.
Via Shakespeare The Tax Dodger?