“Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Who said it first?

“Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

— Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789

"Things as certain as death and taxes, can be more firmly believed."

— Daniel Defoe, in The Political History of the Devil, 1726

“Death and Taxes, they are certain,”  

— Edward Ward, The Dancing Devils, 1724

“Tis impossible to be sure of anything but Death and Taxes,” 

— Christopher Bullock, The Cobler of Preston, 1716

SOURCES:

http://freakonomics.com/2011/02/17/quotes-uncovered-death-and-taxes/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_and_taxes_(idiom)

The Yale Book of Quotations