Poll-tax

Poll-tax, or CAPITATION TAX, a tax levied by the poll or head (per capita). In England the imposition of a graduated poll-tax (varying from 4d. to £4, according to rank and wealth) in the time of Richard II. led to Wat Tyler's rebellion in 1381. A similar tax was imposed in 1513; and an unpopular tax (varying from 12d. for a private person to £100 for a duke) was assessed in 1678 and abolished in 1689. In the United States most states impose a poll-tax or capitation tax as a condition of the suffrage; the sum being generally 1, but in some states only 50 cents, and in others varying from year to year, but not exceeding 3. A considerable number have no such tax; in others the imposition of a poll-tax is expressly prohibited by the constitution. See TAXATION.