My mistake, I was living in Germany not England at the time of the poll tax introduction which is why I knew nothing about it.Despite living in England I would have thought that the reason why the Community Charge was brought in to replace the flawed rates system had reached darkest England.
In the early 1980’s there was a rates revaluation in Scotland which resulted in the rateable value of each property in Scotland increasing by a factor of 2.93.
This meant that the poundage charged should have fallen by the same 2.93 factor to ensure that the amount paid by each ratepayer remained the same.
However at the setting of the rates at the first financial year after the 2.93 times increase in rateable value unscrupulous local councils including the left wing Labour run Dundee City Council took the opportunity to increase the rates by an inflation busting increase to pay for all their pet projects including the twining with Nablus in Palestine. More free trips for Dundee City Councillors to Nablus paid for by the ratepayers in Dundee.
Scotland was the first country in the U.K. to have a rates revaluation. There was an outcry throughout Scotland about the underhand dealings by some Scottish local authorities to fleece property owners throughout Scotland by increasing the poundage paid and then blame the rates revaluation for the increase . However the ratepayers were not a gullable as these dozy Councillors thought they were.
For example if the rateable value increased by a factor of 3 then the poundage paid should have be one third of the previous amount charged. eg, the rateable value of a property was £200 and the poundage paid was 90p in the £. That means that the rates bill for that year would be 200 x 90p which equates to £180.
The rateable value increases by a factor of 3 to £600. The poundage paid reduces to one third of 90p in the £ to 30p in the £.
That means that the rates bill would be 600 x 30p which equates to £180.
However unscrupulous councils like Dundee City Council reduced the poundage from 90p in the £ to 40p in the £ resulting in a rates bill of £240 which was £60 more than the previous year and an increase of 33.3%.
People living in council houses also paid rates but it was included in the their weekly rent so it was not so obvious to council house tenants.
As a result something had to be done and the Community Charge was brought in where each adult living in a property was charged a set amount each year.
I was certainly a lot fairer as previously four adults all working and living in a house paid the same rates as a retired person living on their own in the same size of property. The rateable value system was a tax on trying to better yourself.
Anyway none of what you've written explains why it was imposed on Scotland before the rest of the UK.