poll tax

poll tax

noun

Definition of POLL TAX

: a tax of a fixed amount per person levied on adults and often linked to the right to vote

First Known Use of POLL TAX

1692

Rhymes with POLL TAX

addax, anthrax, banjax, beeswax, borax, broadax, climax, coax, Colfax, death tax, earwax, flat tax, galax, hyrax, Lomax, lost wax, meat-ax, panchax, pickax, poleax, relax, sales tax, sin tax, smilax, stamp tax, storax, styrax, surtax, syntax, thorax, toadflax

poll tax

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Tax of a uniform amount levied on each individual. The most famous British poll tax was the one levied in 1380, a main cause of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt. In the U.S., poll taxes were used as a voting prerequisite in the southern states; when payment was made a prerequisite to voting, impoverished blacks (and often poor whites) were effectively denied the vote. In 1966 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not levy a poll tax as a prerequisite for voting in state and local elections.