What was the Poll Tax?

[dogsod]

I'm too young to remember it and I can't for thw life of me figure it out. It was going to be a community charge that was replaced by council tax anyway? What's the difference?
What would it have cost you and what was it for?

I have googled it and it just comes up with long, pages and pages. Can anyone give me a clue please. Its brought up a lot on here and I'm getting a bit grumpy reading it and not knowing what it is

Like others on here, I never paid it.
The Duke of Westminster paid the same as his each of his cleaning staff.

oh wow thats bad
typical tories though, fuck the poor.

So how long did it go on before people started rioting? I can't believe that worked. Was it probably mass non payment that worked and not the riots or protests?

No wonder, and it made her pretty much loathed down here.

It hit Scotland one year earlier (test zone 1). Sone people still have outstanding warrants for arrest for refusing to pay it. I remember the protests. There is still graffiti in a bridge in Glasgow about a Poll Tax Demo

It was university students had to pay it. All adult residents.

Fucking hell wankers
the tories really do think they can get away with anything don't they? Dirty bustards that's made my blood boil and now I want to go outside to protest 30 years ago

I missed having to pay it as a student by one year.

I thought MSPs had voted in 2015 to write off all poll tax debt, so there shouldn't be any outstanding warrants or debts.

I think our 'rates' prior to the poll tax were about £500 a year (couple both working, no kids) but poll tax was £500 each. Bad enough for us but households that had 4 adults had to pay £2000. Alright for those with higher 'rates' in the first place who just paid the same and of course massively benefitted those with mansions who paid loads less.

A typical Tory tax which inflicted pain on the poorer members of society whilst the rich got away with murder.
It was ridiculous.
It's real name was Community Charge but was named poll tax because of historical similarities with poll tax in 1300s!
Basically it was a flat rate for every adult and lots of poorer people got in debt quickly including my family.

I did my undergraduate thesis on introduction of poll tax in Scotland brings back so many dreadful memories!

There were riots and protests. People started to win their legal cases for non payment. However I think it was the riots that did for it. They were large scale. Lots of people were put in terrible debt and complete penury. There was literally no room in the peoples budget to pay it.. It wasn’t replacing a like for like cost for a lot of people. It was an additional cost. The Conservatives obviously didn’t realise this all being property owners themselves so they would all mainly have been in the unaffected or better off category

God knows but I remember my brothers bollocks to the poll tax tshirt 🤣🤣🤣

The phrase Poll Tax is harking back to something similar from centuries before. Which didn't go down well, either. Its official name was The Community Charge. I remember paying it. I also remember the chant:
"We won't pay the Poll Tax
We won't pay the Poll Tax
Na nah na na
Na nah na na"
To the tune of The Conga.

It was the beginning of the end for Thatcher.

I can't imagine any modern government putting policies in that massively favour the rich and fuck over the poor...

I was caught in the riots when they were burning the effigy of Thatcher. We were confronted by loads of police on horseback so nipped through the scrum into a side road to Charing Cross to get home and as I we made it to the bottom of the stairs they closed the barrier. We turned round to see loads of people crusing against the barrier. It was horrible.

Hahahaha hahaha🤣🤣

If you couldn't pay it, you could be taken to court and imprisoned. Imprisoned for being poor.

I was a student nurse at the time. I did the traditional nurse training and was an employee of the hospital that trained me, so I wasn't eligible for any discount. I had to keep moving address because the poll tax kept catching up with me and sending me bills.

There was a thread on here a few years ago and it seemed the majority of MN thought it sounded a fair system as everyone paid the same for their council services! 🙄

The only good thing about it was it lead to the downfall of Thatcher.

@PutinSmellsPassItOn Oh cool thats so retro I would have worn one of them in my teens and thought it was really trendy

See also
-Four more years
-free Tibet
-up with people

Not sure what any of it means.

I remember receiving my fist 'Community Charge' demand shortly after my 18th birthday. It came with a remittance slip for an amount that was about 1/3 of my annual income at the time. My mum actually expected me to pay it and threatened to kick me out if I didn't, so I saved her the worry by binning it and moving out anyway. It was actually one of a multitude of reasons why I went almost no contact with her at the time because I knew she'd happily inform anyone who asked about my address, so I deliberately withheld it from her.

My dad thought it was great as he had to pay so much less!

I remember that chant. Though where I was we sang "we won't pay no Poll Tax!". I was at the London march that ended up as a riot. It was huge, people of all ages and all walks of life marching together. If only we could find that sort of solidarity now.

@Spidey66 Oh my god that's really bad.
Fucking hell.

Well my dad's always said thatcher was an evil bitch and now I know why

The Conservatives may have made a massive assumption that landlords would reduce their rent by the same amount as their tenant’s poll tax, as landlords no longer had a rates bill to pay. Obviously this did not happen. So landlords were made better off and renters poorer. And we are not talking small sums here.

yes I’m still annoyed about it!

You've started your socio political education - go for it! Find out about Tibet etc