Changes

The Poll Tax in the UK was replaced in 1993 by the Council Tax.  The rate of Council Tax is set by the Local Government, who then receive 25% of the revenue to fund local services.  The tax is split into several bands with the band you pay based upon the value of your main house.  There are discounts for single occupiers of a residence.  Council Tax is often seen as unpopular and regressive, and there are some political parties that wish to replace the flat bands based on house value with a local income tax based upon yearly income.

The Poll Tax in the UK was replaced in 1993 by the Council Tax.  The rate of Council Tax is set by the Local Government, who then receive 25% of the revenue to fund local services.  The tax is split into several bands with the band you pay based upon the value of your main house.  There are discounts for single occupiers of a residence.  Council Tax is often seen as unpopular and regressive, and there are some political parties that wish to replace the flat bands based on house value with a local income tax based upon yearly income.

The were also a poll tax levied in the late fourteenth century. While there was no income tax as we know it today, in medieval Britain there was a range of taxes, tithes, rents, duties and other means whereby the king and his nobles (and the Church) could develop income. The old Anglo-Saxon [[Danegeld|geld]], or land tax, was still in use. Tallage, the right of the king to arbitrarily levy tax on his subjects was replaced by the need for Parliamentary consent in 1340, however the amount of revenue required still varied according to circumstances, especially the state of play in the war with France ([[Hundred Years War]]). At times of success, revenue from ransoms and from captured foreign estates flowed into the country but, during periods of French ascendency, the need for taxation rose and a poll tax was instituted – first in 1377, set at four pence per person, then in 1379 (“the evil subsidy”) at a shilling a head; a large amount for a peasant farmer but nothing to the Church or land-owning barons. There was widespread discontent. The announcement of plans for a third poll tax was the trigger for the [[Peasants Revolt]] of 1381  

There were also poll taxes levied in the late fourteenth century. While there was no income tax as we know it today, in medieval Britain there was a range of taxes, tithes, rents, duties and other means whereby the king and his nobles (and the Church) could develop income. The old Anglo-Saxon [[Danegeld|geld]], or land tax, was still in use. Tallage, the right of the king to arbitrarily levy tax on his subjects was replaced by the need for Parliamentary consent in 1340, however the amount of revenue required still varied according to circumstances, especially the state of play in the war with France ([[Hundred Years War]]). At times of success, revenue from ransoms and from captured foreign estates flowed into the country but, during periods of French ascendency, the need for taxation rose and a poll tax was instituted – first in 1377, set at four pence per person, then in 1379 (“the evil subsidy”) at a shilling a head; a large amount for a peasant farmer but nothing to the Church or land-owning barons. There was widespread discontent. The announcement of plans for a third poll tax was the trigger for the [[Peasants Revolt]] of 1381  

Occasional and short-lived poll taxes were levied from the 15th to the 17th centuries.

Occasional and short-lived poll taxes were levied from the 15th to the 17th centuries.