Tax

In 1696, Britain taxed houses by window count. Homeowners bricked up windows to cut the bill, leaving rooms without enough light or ventilation. Doctors opposed the health effects; the tax was repealed in 1851. Bricked-up window outlines remain on old buildings.

In Korea, only two companies can make soju bottle caps—not due to technical difficulty, but because the National Tax Service since 1972 restricts production to designated firms, cross-checking cap counts against liquor output to prevent tax evasion.