The Jewish poll tax ( pl, poglówne żydowskie) was a

poll tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...

imposed on the

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

. It was later absorbed into the ''

hiberna Hiberna in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was also known as "chleb zimowy" (winters bread) and it was an obligation to guarantee accommodation for troops during winter time. It was an obligation of ''Królewszczyzna'' (crown lands) and church es ...

'' tax. ''Scepter of Judah: The Jewish Autonomy in the Eighteenth-Century Crown Poland''
pp. 15-16
/ref>The Cambridge Dictionary of Judaism and Jewish Culture, p. 118
browse for "skhumot" online
The Jews were exempt from other state and municipal taxes, which often caused protests from Polish city dwellers. Initially the collection of the tax was a duty of Jewish Councils ( Council of Four Lands,

Council of the Land of Lithuania A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

). Sometimes it was paid to the royal treasury, other times it was paid directly to the military units funded from this tax. The Jewish councils divide the tax into smaller internal divisions called "portions" (Hebrew: ''skhumot'', Polish: ''sympla''). The sum of the portions was always larger than the state-imposed amount, and the council used the surplus for the needs of Jewish community and the council apparatus. This practice was common for non-Jewish taxes as well, and the Crown was aware of it. By early 17th century the duty of Jewish poll tax was transferred to '' sejmiks'', later to Polish military, and by mid-17th century it was absorbed into the ''hiberna''.

References

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Legal history of Poland Abolished taxes Taxation of foreigners Poll taxes History of taxation ategory:Disabilities (Jewish) in Europe Jewish Polish history Jewish Lithuanian history {{Poland-hist-stub

See also

References