Poll Tax UK

About Poll Tax UK

The poll tax, or head tax, was a fixed tax per person regardless of income. The poll tax of 1381 helped trigger the Peasants Revolt. Wat Tyler led thousands of peasants to London, burning tax records and killing officials. The revolt was suppressed and Tyler was killed, but the poll tax was abandoned. In 1989, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher introduced the community charge, widely called the poll tax. The tax charged each adult the same amount regardless of income. The tax was massively unpopular. Riots broke out in Trafalgar Square in 1990. Up to 30 percent of people refused to pay. The poll tax was a major factor in Thatchers resignation in November 1990. Her successor John Major replaced it with the council tax in 1993.