why was poll introduced?what happened in the poll tax riots?

Question

hiya...i know that the poll tax riots were on 31st March 1990...but really need information on them...and on why poll tax was introduced...
please help
x

ty to everyone thats answered so far...although feel freee to make a contribution...the more the better!

ty x

Answer 1

G'day What do I do,

Thank you for your question.

The poll tax or community charge was a Tory Party election commitment in the 1987 election. According to Wikipedia,
"The abolition of the rating system of taxes (based on the notional rental value of a house) to fund local government had been in the manifesto of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party in the 1979 general election.

The Green Paper of 1986, Paying for Local Government, proposed the Community Charge. This was a fixed tax per adult resident, hence a poll tax, although there was a reduction for poor people. This charged each person for the services provided in their community. Due to the amount of local taxes paid by businesses varying, and the amount of grant provided by central government to individual local authorities sometimes varying capriciously, there were dramatic differences in the amount charged between boroughs.

This proposal was contained in the Conservative Manifesto for the 1987 General Election. The new tax replaced the rates in Scotland from the start of the 1989/90 financial year and in England and Wales from the start of the 1990/91 financial year.

The system was unpopular - rather than being based on the estimated price of a house, it was now based on the number of people living in it, with the perceived effect of shifting the tax burden from the rich to the poor. Many of the tax rates set by local councils proved to be much higher than many earlier predictions, leading to a feeling of resentment even among many of those who had supported it. People sought to protest through mass protests called by the All-Britain Anti-Poll Tax Federation to which the vast majority of local Anti Poll Tax Unions (APTUs) were affiliated.

In Scotland, where the tax was implemented first, the APTUs called for mass non-payment. These calls rapidly gathered widespread support in Scotland and then in England and Wales, even though non-payment meant that people could be prosecuted - in some areas, up to 30% of former ratepayers defaulted. Whilst owner-occupiers were easy to tax, students and those who regularly changed accommodation were almost impossible to pursue if they chose not to pay. The cost of collecting the tax rose steeply whilst the returns from it fell.

Enforcement measures became increasingly draconian, and unrest mounted and culminated in a number of Poll Tax Riots. The most serious of these happened in London on March 31, 1990, during a protest at Trafalgar Square, London, in which more than 200,000 protesters attended. A Labour MP, Terry Fields, was jailed for 60 days for refusing to pay his poll tax.

The unrest over the poll tax was one of the factors instrumental in toppling Margaret Thatcher in 1990; her replacement, John Major, replaced the Community Charge with the Council Tax system, effective from 1993-94. The Council Tax strongly resembled the rating system that the Poll Tax had replaced. The main differences were that it was levied on capital value rather than notional rental value of a property, and that a 25% discount for single occupancy dwellings was introduced."

I have enclosed sources for your reference.

Regards

Answer 2

Prior to the introduction of the Poll Tax, local government income was raised by 'rates' Each property had a 'rateable value' and the local councils raised income by charging a rate at so much in the £1. So, if your house had a rateable value of £500 and the rate was 50p in the £1 you paid £250 rates. This was seen by Margaret Thatcher and her cronies as being unfair - for example one of the perceived problems was that if you had a street with identical houses but with one council covering part and another council the other part different rates were paid. Also it took no account of occupancy - so an old pensioner living next door to a family of 5 all working paid the same amount. So the even more unfair Poll Tax was introduced, unfair because it was 'regressive', i.e. took no account of the ability to pay. Margaret Thatcher was never one for learning from history - the 14th century Peasants Revolt arose due to an unfair poll tax. In the end, it led to Thatcher's downfall, the major government and the Council Tax - which really isn't much better. The quicker a local income tax or sales tax is introduced into the UK, the better.

Answer 3

The poll tax was first introduced into Scotland, by a year. It replaced the old rates system where you paid rates on the value of your house. The poll tax was levied on everyone who lived in a house. The unfairness of the system was is Achilles heel.

Answer 4

The old rates system was not working so this tax was decided on to make it a fair tax for all (everyone pays not just the house owner)
Which meant they could get twice the money upwards from the people and if you had adult children over the age of 16 they would be paying as well. If you had a second house or lodging you would pay at both ouncil, if your child was at Uni, they would pay at the house and lodgings as well.

Answer 5

Ok it started because Mark Duggan was shot down by police despite him not firing first (because his gun was firing blanks). Because this guy is black, the racism card was pulled out of course and protests began in London about it. Then the idiots got involved and it became violent. Now, up and down the country, hundreds of idiots with nothing better to do are jumping on the bandwagon and using that excuse to justify criminal behaviour. That's about it.

Answer 6

Margaret Thatcher decided we needed the Poll Tax, why I dont know but you may get all the info under Margaret Thatcher or The Conservatives.