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

We were in Scotland. Students were supposed to pay 20%, but DH got a bill for the full amount. He was told the discount was only for undergraduates, not post grads like him. We panicked; the full poll tax would have been 80% of his income. I was on a salary of £8500pa, and had to pay the full amount.

DH's PhD supervisor said all the professors were going nuts, trying to sort out their PhD students poll tax - they didn't want PhD students having to quit half way through.

People’s history museum in Manchester has section on poll tax. Well worth a visit it’s free (donations)

I was a child living in Scotland when this was introduced. Three adults in the house at the time. Mum, dad and my granny. Only one income. We ended up having to sell our home and had to move into a tiny rental because there just wasn't enough money to cover this extra amount. The stress of it all contributed to the end of my parents' marriage. Very bad times.

I'm conflicted by this thread! Half of me is so pleased it's so long ago that people don't know about it! The other half of me thinks - why do people not know about it! This should have been taught in schools! Big part of our regrettable history under 17 years of Thatcher Tory rule

And then the early 90’s arrived with even more job losses and negative equity that lasted until the late 90’s. Many of us in Gen X had a far from easy early adulthood. There was a constant round of corruption and scandal under John Major. Cash for questions, David Mellor, lots more (if memory serves).

All leading to the overwhelming vote for the Tony Blair government in 1997.

Council tax has nothing to do with rich or poor either. You can be loaded and single and pay less council tax than an average family because they live in a bigger house. The Lib Dems suggested replacing it with a local income tax but everyone was too busy crying over them being in the coalition to vote for it.

There's a difference between capital wealth and having a high income. Clever accountancy can enable bsent dads to hide all their income from CSA, family trust funds can hold the wealth to keep it from inheritance tax. I knew of a family back in the 90s who lived in a 6 bedroom mansion in the most expensive part of town but their kids qualified for assisted places at private schools because on paper they were virtually skint.

In theory a progressive tax on your lifestyle level of luxury is a way to catch out those who know how to fiddle their income tax. VAT on luxuries is part of it, and a well designed progressive property tax could be done very fairly. Only problem is that the lowest band isn't cheap enough and there aren't enough bands for the seriously wealthy end.