Elizabeth Wilks who was the treasurer of the league refused to pay her tax in 1908. Actually married women were not required to pay tax in Britain at that time. According to the law the joint income of a couple was added together and the husband paid the tax. However Elizabeth who earned more than her husband refused to tell her husband how much she earned. This put the authorities into a quandary as Elizabeth was not liable to pay tax and her husband said he was willing to pay the tax but he said that he had no idea how much to pay. In 1910 the authorities illegally seized some of Elizabeth's goods in an attempt to levy the tax on her income. The authorities then tried to claim the tax either from the Wilks or by her husband alone. This was legally unsatisfactory as Mark was being asked for tax on an income of about £600 per annum that he was nominally unaware of. 3,000 teachers signed a petition when Mark Wilks was placed in Brixton prison and there was a demonstration in Trafalgar Square to protest at his treatment. He was released after a fortnight to a celebrations from the supporters of the Women's Tax Resistance League which included George Bernard Shaw. Despite a debate in the House of Lords where it was realised that the law was unfair, British law did not get amended until 1972.