‘Poll Taxes’ have become synonymous in the public consciousness with protest, but why is this? What is it about the Poll Tax and its use throughout history that has caused such anger amongst the British people?
Firstly, what do we actually mean by ‘Poll Tax’, and how is it different to any other tax that we have to pay? A poll tax is a tax levied at a flat rate, this means that no matter how much money you earn, everyone is expected to pay the same. This has historically made poll taxes particularly burdensome to the poor.
14th Century Poll Taxes and Protests
In 1377, a poll tax was levied at the request of John of Gaunt, King Edward III’s son who was in charge of the government whilst his father was gravely ill. The tax was needed to raise money for the war against France. Two further poll taxes were levied in the fourteenth century, one in 1378, and the other in 1381.
In 1377, every lay person who was not a beggar and over the age of 14 was required to pay a groat (4d.) the second poll tax of 1379 was levied on a graded system according to social class. The third poll tax used a combination of a flat rate and a gradual sliding scale, the minimum payment was 4d. but the mean assessment was set at 12d. This meant that payments were variable which, in theory, removed the burden from the poorest in society. However, in reality this was not the case. The methods used to collect the tax were also hugely unpopular and invasive, with tax collectors entering people’s homes to determine who was of age and liable to pay the tax. The 1381 poll tax in particular acted as a catalyst for the Peasants’ or Great Revolt in the summer of the same year. Following the uprising, the poll taxes were not used again by the government in the same way until the twentieth century.
17th Century Poll Taxes and Protests
The poll taxes were resurrected again in the seventeenth century under the Stuarts. In 1641 Charles I levied a poll tax to finance an army in order to quell uprisings in Scotland and Ireland. His son, Charles II, levied a poll tax in 1660 to pay for the disbanding of the New Model Army. However, what was different about these poll taxes and the poll taxes of the fourteenth and twentieth centuries were that they primarily targeted the wealthy, upper classes or were assessed according to ‘rank’. In 1660 dukes were expected to pay £100, earls £60, knights £20 and esquires The middling classes were also expected to pay according to their ‘rank’ or profession. For example, judges were expected to pay £20, physicians £10 and attorneys £3. Further poll taxes were levied in the reign of William III and Mary II, but with diminishing returns as a result of insufficient collection methods.
As the largest proportion of money raised from the seventeenth century poll taxes came from the wealthy, upper classes, they were not as unpopular as their fourteenth century predecessors. However, there were complaints about a lack of clear differentiation between the incomes earned within different ranks. More unpopular in the seventeenth century was the controversial hearth tax, which was introduced by Charles II in 1662. This tax meant that inspectors actually had to enter into people’s homes and count the number of hearths (fireplaces) which were taxed at 2s. each. This tax was seen as invasive and unfair, much as the collection of the fourteenth century poll tax had been. The Hearth Tax was repealed following the Glorious Revolution of 1688-9 and was replaced by the less invasive Window Tax in 1689, which enabled inspectors to count the number of windows per property from outside.
20th Century Poll Taxes and Protests
It was another three hundred years before the poll tax was resurrected once more, this time under the guise of the ‘Community Charge’. This tax was introduced in 1989 in Scotland and 1990 in England and Wales, as a way of funding local government in the United Kingdom. This new system replaced the old ‘rates’ which were assessed based on the value of individual homes. The tax was set at a fixed rate, with a reduction available for those on lower incomes. As a result of the tax being based on the number of individuals living in a property, rather than the value of the property itself, many felt that the burden of the tax was being shifted from the rich to the poor. The tax rates set by local councils were also significantly higher than had been originally expected and the ‘Community Charge’ proved hugely unpopular.
The All Britain Anti-Poll Tax Federation called mass protests. In Scotland there was widespread encouragement for non-payment of the tax, and this quickly spread to the rest of England and Wales. Even some MPs refused to pay the new tax, including Terry Fields, who was jailed for 60 days. In some areas, default rates were as high as thirty per cent. Although home-owners were easier to trace and tax, those who regularly changed accommodation were harder to trace. This meant that the cost of actually collecting the tax increased, while returns from the tax decreased. Civil unrest grew and resulted in a series of protests across the country, many of which turned violent. The most serious of these was the protest at Trafalgar square in London held on 31st March 1990, which attracted 200,000 protestors.
The public’s reaction to the ‘community Charge’ resulted in the tax being shelved by John Major, who replaced it in 1992 with the Council Tax, which was a graduated tax rather than one levied at a flat rate and which still remains in place today.
Throughout history the poll tax has been an unpopular method of tax collection through its usually flat rate demands and invasive means of collecting it. In particular the fourteenth and twentieth century attempts at poll taxes resulted in open rebellion and protest which did institute changes. Although in the seventeenth century there were attempts to resurrect this method of taxation, its effects were not as far-reaching and the tax was usually graduated. However, the protests over the historical poll taxes of the fourteenth and twentieth centuries have meant that this particular type of tax has been undeniably linked with public unrest.
By Claire Kennan.
Claire is a Citizens Project Officer and PhD researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London.
