COMMUNITY CHARGE

noun (Business World) (Politics) In Great Britain, a charge for local services at a level fixed annually by the local authority and in principle payable by every adult resident; the official name for the tax popularly known as the poll tax. Etymology: Formed by compounding: a charge for community services, and payable by every adult resident of the community who is not specially exempted. History and Usage: The government announced its intention to replace the system of household rates with a community charge in 1985; the original plan was for a flat-rate charge of ø50 per person. The plan was first put into effect in Scotland in 1989 and in the rest of Great Britain (but not Northern Ireland) in 1990. In both places it met with considerable opposition and a campaign of non-payment, not least because of the high level of tax fixed by many local authorities, the large discrepancies from one area to another, and the absence of any kind of means testing from the system (although those on low incomes could apply for rebates). The government's decision to cap the tax in high-spending areas only compounded the problem, since bills had already been issued by many of the local authorities affected. Community charge is the official term used by the government and some local authorities; popularly, though, and in some literature issued by non-Conservative local authorities, it is known as poll tax. In April 1991, the government announced the result of its review of the community charge, which, it said, would be replaced after consultation by a property-based council tax by 1993. You don't pay the personal charge if you're...a prisoner, unless you're inside for not paying the community charge or a fine. Which? Oct. 1989, p. 476 This week's violent community charge agitation has sparked a dramatic resurgence in the fortunes of Militant Tendency and other Trotskyite groups. The Times 8 Mar. 1990, p. 5