French Poll Tax of 1695
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The French Poll Tax of 1695 was established by King Louis XIV in order to finance the War of the League of Augsburg. The traditional methods of war financing had been exhausted. Vauban and Chamlay favoured taxation of the rich and privileged. Yet Pontchartrain refused to propose any measures beyond the traditional. But Basville took the initiative to a poll tax plan, and circumvented the inner circles in Paris by having it formally presented to the King by the Estates of Languedoc. As a universal tax on persons, the poll tax affected all of the three estates in all the provinces of France. Exceptions were only made for members of the mendicant orders and for the poor certified by the priest, and for those who would pay less than 2 livres in poll tax. The taxpayers were divided into twenty-two classes. Members of each class paid a fixed sum of tax. Inclusion in each class was determined not by wealth, but by rank and status. The clergy paid a lump sum of 4 million livres per year instead of being individually taxed. French historians have studied the social implications of the classifications in the schedule to the poll tax decree. Bluche and Solnon maintain that the poll tax schedule constitutes a veritable social hierarchy of France. Alain Guery rejects that the schedule to the poll tax corresponds to a social hierarchy.
Declaration of the King for the establishment of the poll tax | |
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Louis XIV, King of France | |
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Citation | [1] |
Territorial extent | Kingdom of France: pays d'états, pays d'élection, pays d'imposition |
Enacted by | The King |
Enacted | 18 January 1695, with amendments by the Royal Council of Finances 12 February 1695, 26 February 26, 1695, 31 January 1696. |
Signed by | Louis XVI Phélypeaux |
Commenced | January 1, 1695 |
Date of expiry | 1 April 1698 |
Repealed | 20 September 1697 |
Status: Repealed |