Page "Tax per head" Paragraph 20

Compounding the burden, the assessment on the capitation did not remain stable.

The pays de taille personelle ( basically, Pays d ' élection, the bulk of France and Aquitaine ) secured the ability to assess the capitation tax proportionally to the taille-which effectively meant adjusting the burden heavily against the lower classes.

According to the estimates of Jacques Necker in 1788, the capitation tax was so riddled in practice, that the privileged classes ( nobles and clergy and towns ) were largely exempt, while the lower classes were heavily crushed: the lowest peasant class, originally assessed to pay 3 livres, were now paying 24, the second lowest, assessed at 10 livres, were now paying 60 and the third-lowest assessed at 30 were paying 180.

The total collection from the capitation, according to Necker in 1788, was 41 million livres, well short of the 54 million estimate, and it was projected that the revenues could have doubled if the exemptions were revoked and the original 1695 assessment properly restored.