ETYM Latin capitatio a poll tax, from caput head; cf. French capitation.
A tax levied on the basis of a fixed amount per person.
Numbering of individuals; head tax.

Tax levied on every individual, without reference to his or her income or property. Being simple to administer, it was among the earliest sorts of tax (introduced in England 1379), but because of its indiscriminate nature (it is a regressive tax, in that it falls proportionately more heavily on poorer people) it has often proved unpopular.
In the us, the tax was widely used as a means of disenfranchising poor blacks in southern states. It was made unconstitutional under the 24th Amendment 1964 for federal elections and 1966 for state races.
A tax of a fixed amount per person and payable as a requirement for the right to vote. + prikaži više