On 20 March 1678 royal assent was given to a bill to raise money for waging war against France by means of a graduated poll tax. The act stated expressly that the revenue derived from this levy was to be used only for this purpose. The provisions of the tax were similar to those of the poll tax granted in 1667, and the tax was to be levied by the same commissioners appointed to assess and levy the tax granted on 16 April 1677 to build thirty warships.

Everyone was liable to pay a flat rate of 1s., except paupers and their children, and the children of those persons with four children and an estate of less than £50 in total. In addition, a charge of 20s. was made for every £100 of cash or debts. Holders of public office, except those in the armed forces, were to pay 2s. of every pound they received in wages, and government pensioners paid 3s. in the pound on their yearly stipends or pensions. Members of the legal profession were required to pay 2s. in the pound, and servants 1s. in the pound of their annual income, except for 'board wages'. Other ranks, titles and occupations were assessed as follows:

|Noblemen|: dukes, £50; marquesses, £40; earls, £30; viscounts, £25; barons, £20.

|Eldest sons of noblemen, aged 21 or older|: dukes, £30; marquesses, £25; earls, £20; viscounts, £17.10s.; barons, £15.

|Younger sons of noblemen, aged 16 or older|: dukes, £25; marquesses, £20; earls, £15; viscounts, £13.6s.8d.; barons, £12.

|Knights and esquires|: baronets, £15; knights of the Order of the Bath, £15; knights bachelor, £10; esquires, £5.

|Serjeants-at-law|: king's serjeants, £20; other serjeants, £15.

|Gentlemen|: over 16 years old, 20s.; minors, possessing an estate of £300 or more, 20s.

|Professional men|: serjeants-at-law, counsellors, attorneys, solicitors, scriveners, advocates, proctors, public notaries, physicians, 2s. of every 20s. of annual income received from the practise of their respective professions (apart from one-third of that income allowed for expenses and deemed to be non-taxable)

|Clergy|: archbishops, £50; bishops, £20; deans, £10; archdeacons, £2.10s.; canons and prebendaries worth less than £30 annually (apart from sole prebendaries), £2.10s.; doctors of divinity, law and physic, £5.

|Merchants|: Londoners, not freemen, £10; merchants and traders possessing a house worth £30 per annum in London, 10s.; members of the East India Company, 20s. for every hundred shares of joint stock of the company held; members of the Guinea Company, 20s. for every hundred shares of joint stock of the company held.

|Alien merchants|, £10.

No doctors of divinity without benefices were to be charged for their titles. Widows of laymen or clergymen were to pay one-third of the charge for their husbands' titles.

The assessment and collection procedure was virtually identical to that established for the levy of the subsidy for the king's extraordinary occasions granted on 6 March 1671. The commissioners were to meet by 12 April 1678, and to call before them constables, bailiffs and other substantial inhabitants, from whom they were to nominate assessors. They were to read the act to them and instruct them in how to make their certificates. The certificates, assessments and names of the sub-collectors were to be returned to the commissioners by 10 May. The sub-collectors were to make demands for payment within six days of receiving their warrants, and to levy and pay their receipts to the receiver-general appointed by the king, or his deputies, by 12 June. Duplicates of the sums to be levied in each locality were to be returned to the Exchequer by 12 July, and the receivers-general were to pay the money received in their counties by 10 August 1678.

Anyone lending money of up to £300,000 on the credit of the act was to be furnished with a tally for repayment and would be repaid with interest of 7% per annum, paid every three months. The net total amount raised by the levy was about £261,000.

(|Stat. Realm|, V, pp 852-862; Chandaman, |English Public Revenue|, pp 157, 188-189)