Poll tax

Poll tax, tax collected from every adult in a community. All people pay the same amount, no matter what their incomes or what properties they own. This kind of taxation is controversial because many feel that it places an unfair burden on the poor and that a fairer way would be to tax according to how much a person owns. There is no national poll tax in the United States. Several U.S. states in the South enacted poll taxes. Those who could not pay them were not allowed to vote. The 24th Amendment (1964) to the U.S. Constitution and action taken by the Supreme Court in 1966 declared that states could not require the payment of poll taxes as a prerequisite for voting in any election.

See also: Taxation.