Land value tax

It is also known as a location value tax, a point valuation tax, a site valuation tax, split rate tax, or a site-value rating.

File:Perfectly inelastic supply.svg diagram showing the effects of land value taxation. As the supply of land is fixed, the burden of the tax falls entirely on the landowner. There is no change in the rental price and quantity transacted, and no deadweight loss.]]

Most taxes distort economic decisions and discourage beneficial economic activity.{{sfn|Coughlan|1999|pp=263-4}} For example, property taxes discourage construction, maintenance, and repair because taxes increase with improvements. LVT is not based on how land is used. Because the supply of land is essentially fixed, land rents depend on what tenants are prepared to pay, rather than on landlord expenses. Thus, if landlords passed LVT on to tenants, they might move or rent smaller spaces before absorbing increased rent.{{cite book |first=Adam |last=Smith |author-link=Adam Smith |title=The Wealth of Nations |title-link=The Wealth of Nations |year=1902 |orig-year=1776 |chapter=Book V, Chapter 2, Part 2, Article I: Taxes upon the Rent of Houses }}

The land's occupants benefit from improvements surrounding a site. Such improvements shift tenants' aggregate demand curve to the right (they will pay more). Landlords benefit from price competition among tenants; the only direct effect of LVT in this case is to reduce the amount of social benefit that is privately captured as land price by titleholders.

LVT is said to be justified for economic reasons because it does not deter production, distort markets, or otherwise create deadweight loss. Land value tax can even have negative deadweight loss (social benefits), particularly when land use improves.{{Cite book |last1=McCluskey |first1=William J. |last2=Franzsen |first2=Riël C. D. |title=Land Value Taxation: An Applied Analysis|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |year=2005 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=jkogP2U4k0AC|page=73}} |page=73|isbn=978-0-7546-1490-6 }} Economist William Vickrey believed that: {{blockquote|"removing almost all business taxes, including property taxes on improvements, excepting only taxes reflecting the marginal social cost of public services rendered to specific activities, and replacing them with taxes on site values, would substantially improve the economic efficiency of the jurisdiction."{{cite journal|last=Vickrey|first= William |title=The Corporate Income Tax in the U.S. Tax System |journal=73 Tax Notes |volume=597 |page=603|year=1996}}}}

LVT's efficiency has been observed in practice.{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Jeffery J. |title=Property Tax Shift Successes |work=The Progress Report |year=2001 |url=http://www.progress.org/archive/geono05.htm |access-date=13 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214215127/http://www.progress.org/archive/geono05.htm |archive-date=14 December 2007 }} Fred Foldvary stated that LVT discourages speculative land holding because the tax reflects changes in land value (up and down), encouraging landowners to develop or sell vacant/underused plots in high demand. Foldvary claimed that LVT increases investment in dilapidated inner city areas because improvements don't cause tax increases. This in turn reduces the incentive to build on remote sites and so reduces urban sprawl.{{Cite journal|last=Foldvary |first=Fred E. |title=Geo-Rent: A Plea to Public Economists |journal=Econ Journal Watch |year=2005 |url=https://econjwatch.org/File+download/66/2005-04-foldvary-tyranny-statquo.pdf?mimetype=pdf |url-status=live |volume=2 |pages=106–132 |issue=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530150455/https://econjwatch.org/File+download/66/2005-04-foldvary-tyranny-statquo.pdf?mimetype=pdf |archive-date=30 May 2020 |access-date=2 January 2025 }} For example, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's LVT has operated since 1975. This policy was credited by mayor Stephen R. Reed with reducing the number of vacant downtown structures from around 4,200 in 1982 to fewer than 500.{{Cite web |last=Hartzok |first=Alanna |date=April 1997 |title=Pennsylvania's Success with Local Property Tax Reform: The Split Rate Tax |url=http://www.earthrights.net/docs/success.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111211123715/http://www.earthrights.net/docs/success.html |archive-date=2011-12-11 |access-date=June 14, 2022 |website=Earth Rights Institute}}

LVT is arguably an ecotax because it discourages the waste of prime locations, which are a finite resource.{{cite journal |last=Mills |first=David E. |title=The Non-Neutrality of Land Value Taxation |journal=National Tax Journal |year=1981 |volume=34 |issue=March 1981 |pages=125, 127–128 |doi=10.1086/NTJ41862356 |s2cid=232211606 }}{{cite journal |last=Bentick | first=Brian L. |title=The Impact of Taxation and Valuation Practices on the Timing and Efficiency of Land Use |journal=Journal of Political Economy |volume=87 |issue=August 1979 |pages=859–860 |doi=10.1086/260797 |year=1979 |jstor=1831012 | s2cid=154577372 }}{{cite journal |last=DiMasi |first=Joseph A. |title=The Effects of Site Value Taxation in an Urban Area: A General Equilibrium Computational Approach |journal=National Tax Journal |year=1987 |volume=40 |issue=December 1987 |pages=577–588 |doi=10.1086/NTJ41788697 |s2cid=232212658 }} Many urban planners claim that LVT is an effective method to promote transit-oriented development.{{cite web |last=Gihring |first=Thomas A. |title=The Value Capture Approach To Stimulating Transit Oriented Development And Financing Transit Station Area Improvements |website=Victoria Transport Policy Institute |url=https://www.vtpi.org/gihring_tod.pdf |date=February 2009 |access-date=2 January 2025 }}{{cite thesis |degree=Master's |last=Speirs |first=Mark |title=Land Value Taxation: An Underutilized Complement to Smart Growth Policies |url=http://www.urbantoolsconsult.org/upload/MarkSpeirsFinalPaper12-20.pdf |access-date=16 December 2012 |date=13 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611180934/http://www.urbantoolsconsult.org/upload/MarkSpeirsFinalPaper12-20.pdf |archive-date=11 June 2012 |via=Center for the Study of Economics}}

The value of land reflects the value it can provide over time. This value can be measured by the ground rent that a piece of land receives on the market. The present value of ground-rent is the basis for land prices. A land value tax (LVT) will reduce the ground rent received by the landlord, and thus will decrease the price of land, holding all else constant.{{cn|date=September 2023}} The rent charged for land may also decrease as a result of efficiency gains if speculators stop hoarding unused land.{{cn|date=September 2023}}

Real estate bubbles direct savings towards rent-seeking activities rather than other investments and can contribute to recessions. Advocates claim that LVT reduces the speculative element in land pricing, thereby leaving more money for productive capital investment.{{cite magazine|last=Wetzel |first=Dave |title=The case for taxing land |magazine=New Statesman |date=20 September 2004 |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/node/195119|access-date=13 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814040319/http://www.newstatesman.com/200409200007 |archive-date=14 August 2007 }}

At sufficiently high levels, LVT would cause real estate prices to fall by taxing away land rents that would otherwise become 'capitalized' into the price of real estate. It also encourages landowners to sell or develop locations that they are not using. This might cause some landowners, especially pure landowners, to resist high land value tax rates. Landowners often possess significant political influence, which may help explain the limited spread of land value taxes so far.{{cite journal |first=Julie P. |last=Smith |title=Land Value Taxation: A Critique Of 'Tax Reform, A Rational Solution' |journal=Centre for Economic Policy Research Discussion Papers |publisher=Australian National University |date=June 2000 |url=http://econrsss.anu.edu.au/pdf/DP417.pdf |access-date=13 June 2008 |issn=1442-8636 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100401053858/http://econrsss.anu.edu.au/pdf/DP417.pdf |archive-date=1 April 2010 }}

A land value tax has progressive tax effects, in that it is paid by the owners of valuable land who tend to be the rich, and since the amount of land is fixed, the tax burden cannot be passed on as higher rents or lower wages to tenants, consumers, or workers.

Several practical issues complicate LVT implementation. Most notably, it must be:

• calculated accurately and fairly (and fairness is always subjective)
• high enough to raise sufficient revenue without causing land abandonment, but if land is abandoned, it could be claimed by the State (as occurs under Israel's Absentees' Property Laws)
• billed to the correct person or business entity
• Political Resistance: Landowners, particularly those with substantial holdings, may oppose LVT due to its potential to significantly increase their tax burden. This resistance can lead to political challenges in implementing and sustaining an LVT.
• Effect on Rural Landowners: In rural areas, where land values are lower but the land size per owner might be large, the tax might seem unfair or burdensome compared to urban areas where land values are higher.
• Effect on Planning 1: Whereas in a conceptual world LVT drives efficient use of land, extant planning restrictions mitigate against that efficiency. Moreover when external developments increase the notional land value (by increasing amenity, for instance) existing landowners may object if such a development increased LVT while they are not allowed to realise the benefit.
• Effect on Planning 2: LVT in real estate should encourage high-rise building to maximise land-use efficiency. However amenity improvements required for those high-occupant developments are shared unequally across low-occupancy neighbours.
• Market Fluctuations: The real estate market is subject to fluctuations, which can lead to significant changes in land values and, consequently, the taxes owed. This volatility can make it difficult for landowners to plan financially.
• Economic Impact on Property Development: While LVT encourages the efficient use of land, it could also discourage development in areas where the anticipated increase in land value may not justify the initial investment costs, potentially leading to underdevelopment.

{{Hatnote|Compare to Real estate appraisal}}

{{See also|Land (economics)}}

Levying an LVT requires an assessment and a title register. In a 1796 United States Supreme Court opinion, Justice William Paterson said that leaving the valuation process up to assessors would cause bureaucratic complexities, as well as non-uniform procedures.{{cite court |litigants=Hylton v. United States |vol=3 |reporter=Dall. |opinion=171 |pinpoint= |court=U.S. |date=1796 }} Murray Rothbard later raised similar concerns, claiming that no government can fairly assess value, which can be determined only by a free market.{{cite web|url=https://www.mises.org/rothbard/georgism.pdf |title=The Single Tax: Economic and Moral Implications and A Reply to Georgist Criticisms|first=Murray |last=Rothbard |date=20 July 2005 |access-date=13 February 2009 |publisher=The Mises Institute}}

Compared to modern property tax assessments, land valuations involve fewer variables and have smoother gradients than valuations that include improvements. This is due to variation of building design and quality. Modern statistical techniques have improved the process; in the 1960s and 1970s, multivariate analysis was introduced as an assessment tool.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SsizAAAAIAAJ |last=Downing |first=Paul B. |chapter=Estimating Residential Land Value by Multivariate Analysis |editor=Daniel M. Holland |title=The Assessment of Land Value |year=1970 |access-date=13 February 2009|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|isbn=9780299056209 }} Usually, such a valuation process begins with a measurement of the most and least valuable land within the taxation area. A few sites of intermediate value are then identified and used as "landmark" values. Other values are interpolated between the landmark values. The data is then collated in a database,{{Cite web |url=http://www.landreg.gov.hk/en/form/property.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080607013107/http://www.landreg.gov.hk/en/form/property.htm |archive-date=2008-06-07 |title=Property Reference Number|website=The Land Registry|access-date=22 December 2008}} "smoothed" and mapped using a geographic information system (GIS). Thus, even if the initial valuation is difficult, once the system is in use, successive valuations become easier.

File:Maximum taxation with perfectly inelastic supply.svg In the context of LVT as a single tax (replacing all other taxes), some have argued that LVT alone cannot raise enough tax revenue.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wA87AQAAIAAJ&q=land+value+tax |page=458-59 |edition=3rd |year=1986 |title=Economic Analysis of Law |isbn=978-0-316-71438-9 |last1=Posner |first1=Richard A. |author-link=Richard Posner |publisher=Little, Brown }} However, the presence of other taxes can reduce land values and hence the revenue that can be raised from them. The Physiocrats argued that all other taxes ultimately come at the expense of land rental values. Most modern LVT systems function alongside other taxes and thus only reduce their impact without removing them. Land taxes that are higher than the rental surplus (the full land rent for that time period) would result in land abandonment.{{cite journal |first=J. Anthony |last=Coughlin |title=Land Value Taxation and Constitutional Uniformity |volume=7 |journal=Geo. Mason L. Rev. |page=265-266 }}

In some countries, LVT is impractical because of uncertainty regarding land titles and tenure. For instance, a parcel of grazing land may be communally owned by village inhabitants and administered by village elders. The land in question would need to be held in a trust or similar body for taxation purposes. If the government cannot accurately define ownership boundaries and ascertain the proper owners, it cannot know from whom to collect the tax. Clear titles are absent in many developing countries.{{cite thesis |degree=Doctoral |first = Mika-Petteri |last = Törhönen |section=Sustainable Land Tenure and Land Registration in Developing Countries, Including a Historical Comparison with an Industrialised Country |section-url=http://lib.tkk.fi/Diss/2003/isbn9512264919/article4.pdf |title=Sustainable Land Tenure and Land Registration in Developing Countries |url=http://lib.tkk.fi/Diss/2003/isbn9512264919/ |date =1998–2003 |publisher=Helsinki University of Technology |access-date = 22 May 2008}} In African countries with imperfect land registration, boundaries may be poorly surveyed, and the owner can be unknown.{{Cite journal |last=Keith |first=Simon H. |date=October 1993 |title=Property Tax in Anglophone Africa: A Practical Manual |location=Washington, DC |publisher=The World Bank |page=10 |url=http://www1.worldbank.org/wbiep/decentralization/africa/Keith.pdf |issn=0253-7494 |access-date=12 June 2008 |journal= World Bank Technical Paper|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910003610/http://www1.worldbank.org/wbiep/decentralization/africa/Keith.pdf |archive-date=10 September 2008 }}

{{further|Speculation}}

File:Baulücke in Köln-Weidenpesch (9506).jpg

The owner of a vacant lot in a thriving city must still pay a tax and would rationally perceive the property as a financial liability, encouraging them to put the land to use in order to cover the tax. LVT removes financial incentives to hold unused land solely for price appreciation, making more land available for productive uses. Land value tax creates an incentive to convert these sites to more intensive private uses or into public purposes.

The selling price of a good that is fixed in supply, such as land, does not change if it is taxed. By contrast, the price of manufactured goods can rise in response to increased taxes, because the higher cost reduces the number of units that suppliers are willing to sell at the original price. The price increase is how the maker passes along some part of the tax to consumers. However, if the revenue from LVT is used to reduce other taxes or to provide valuable public investment, it can cause land prices to rise as a result of higher productivity, by more than the amount that LVT removed.

Land tax incidence rests completely upon landlords, although business sectors that provide services to landlords are indirectly impacted. In some economies, 80 percent of bank lending finances real estate, with a large portion of that for land.{{cite web|last1=Hudson|first1=Michael|title=Productivity, The Miracle of Compound Interest and Poverty|date=23 April 2012|url=http://michael-hudson.com/2012/04/productivity-the-miracle-of-compound-interest-and-poverty/|access-date=19 May 2015}} Reduced demand for land speculation might reduce the amount of circulating bank credit.

While landowners are unlikely to be able to charge higher rents to compensate for LVT, removing other taxes may increase rents, as this may affect the demand for land.{{cite book |last=Ricardo |first=David |url=https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/ricardo/prin/index.html |title=On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation |publisher=John Murray |year=1821 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810033506/https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/ricardo/prin/index.html |access-date=15 October 2018|archive-date=10 August 2018 }}{{cite book | last = Samuelson | first = Paul | title = Economics | publisher = McGraw-Hill | location = New York | year = 1985 | isbn = 978-0070546851 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/economics00paul/page/603 603–605] | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/economics00paul/page/603 | edition = 12th }}

{{further|land use}}

Assuming constant demand, an increase in constructed space decreases the cost of improvements to land such as houses. Shifting property taxes from improvements to land encourages development. Infill of underutilized urban space is one common practice to reduce urban sprawl.

LVT is less vulnerable to tax evasion, since land cannot be concealed or moved overseas and titles are easily identified, as they are registered with the public.{{cite web|last1=Gandhi|first1=Sona|title=Presumptive Direct Taxes |work=worldbank.org |url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTPUBLICSECTORANDGOVERNANCE/EXTPUBLICFINANCE/0,,contentMDK:20233950~menuPK:1747624~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:1339564,00.html|access-date=24 May 2015}} Land value assessments are usually considered public information, which is available upon request. Transparency reduces tax evasion.{{cite journal|last1=Foldvary|first1=Fred|title=The Ultimate Tax Reform: Public Revenue from Land Rent|journal=Civil Society Institute|date=January 2006|url=http://www.foldvary.net/works/policystudy.pdf|access-date=24 May 2015|archive-date=7 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207152253/http://www.foldvary.net/works/policystudy.pdf|url-status=dead}}

{{See also|Georgism}}

Land acquires a scarcity value owing to the competing needs for space. The value of land generally owes nothing to the landowner and everything to the surroundings.{{cite news|title=A Study in Land Value Taxation|url=https://seek.estate/articles/study-land-value-taxation/|work=Seek Estate|access-date=6 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602195043/https://seek.estate/articles/study-land-value-taxation/|archive-date=2 June 2014}}

File:Everybody works but the vacant lot (cropped).jpg]]

LVT considers the effect on land value of location, and of improvements made to neighbouring land, such as proximity to roads and public works. LVT is the purest implementation of the public finance principle known as value capture.{{sfn|Coughlan |1999| p=263}}

A public works project can increase land values and thus increase LVT revenues. Arguably, public improvements should be paid for by the landowners who benefit from them.{{cite journal | last1 = Rybeck | first1 = Rick | year = 2004 | title = Using Value Capture to Finance Infrastructure and Encourage Compact Development | journal = Public Works Management & Policy | volume = 8 | issue = 4| pages = 249–260 | doi = 10.1177/1087724X03262828 | s2cid = 154860270 }} Thus, LVT captures the land value of socially created wealth, allowing a reduction in tax on privately created (non-land) wealth.{{cite web|url=http://earthsharing.ca/page/poverty|title=Poverty|work=earthsharing.ca}}

LVT generally is a progressive tax, with those of greater means paying more,{{cite journal|last1=Plummer|first1=Elizabeth|title=Evidence on the Distributional Effects of a Land Value Tax on Residential Households|journal=National Tax Journal|volume=63|pages=63–92|date=March 2010|url=http://www.ntanet.org/NTJ/63/1/ntj-v63n01p63-92-evidence-distributional-effects-land.pdf|access-date=7 January 2015|doi=10.17310/ntj.2010.1.03|s2cid=53585974|archive-date=10 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110102445/http://www.ntanet.org/NTJ/63/1/ntj-v63n01p63-92-evidence-distributional-effects-land.pdf}} in that land ownership correlates to income{{cite journal|last1=Aaron|first1=Henry|title=A New View of Property Tax Incidence|journal=The American Economic Review|date=May 1974|volume=64|issue=2|url=https://econpapers.repec.org/article/aeaaecrev/v_3a64_3ay_3a1974_3ai_3a2_3ap_3a212-21.htm|access-date=7 January 2015}} and landlords cannot shift the tax burden onto tenants.{{Cite book|last1=McCluskey|first1=William J.|title=Land Value Taxation: an Applied Analysis.|date=2005|others=Riël C. D. Franzsen|isbn=978-1-351-92356-9|location=Florence|oclc=975222670|last2=Franzsen|first2=Riël C.D.|publisher=Routledge|pages=4–5}} LVT generally reduces economic inequality, removes incentives to misuse real estate, and reduces the vulnerability of economies to property booms and crashes.{{cite book|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=jkogP2U4k0AC|page=73}}|page=73|title=Land Value Taxation}}

The philosophies and concepts underpinning land value taxation were discussed in ancient times, stemming from taxes on crop yield. For example, Rishis of ancient India claimed that land should be held in common, and that unfarmed land should produce the same tax as productive land. "The earth ...is common to all beings enjoying the fruit of their own labour; it belongs...to all alike"; therefore, "there should be left some for everyone". Apastamba said "If any person holding land does not exert himself and hence bears no produce, he shall, if rich, be made to pay what ought to have been produced".{{cite book|title=Papers of the Manchester Literary Club, Volume 33|date=2012|publisher=Manchester Literary Club|isbn=978-1-176-12707-4|page=503|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=h9wKAAAAYAAJ|page=503}}|access-date=25 May 2015}}

Mencius{{Cite book|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Rcn-ugEACAAJ}}|title=The Story of Civilization, Volume 1: The Ancient World|isbn=978-1-5051-0566-7|language=en|page=684|first1=Will |last1=Durant |author-link1=Will Durant|first2=Ariel |last2=Durant|author-link2= Ariel =Durant|publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York|year= 1942 }} was a Chinese philosopher (around 300 BCE) who advocated for the elimination of taxes and tariffs, to be replaced by the public collection of urban land rent: "In the market-places, charge land-rent, but don't tax the goods."{{cite web|last1=Muller|first1=Charles|title=Mencius (Selections)|url=http://www.acmuller.net/con-dao/mencius.html|access-date=25 May 2015}}

During the Middle Ages, in the West, the first regular and permanent land tax system was based on a unit of land known as the hide. The hide was originally the amount of land sufficient to support a household. It later became subject to a land tax known as "geld".{{cite book|first1=Michael |last1=Lapidge|first2=Malcolm |last2=Godden|first3=Simon |last3=Keynes|title=Anglo-Saxon England|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=k6kSRKibqagC}}|date=4 March 1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-62243-1}}

File:Anne Robert Jacques Turgot.jpg, a leading physiocrat]]

The physiocrats were a group of economists who believed that the wealth of nations was derived solely from the value of land agriculture or land development. Before the Industrial Revolution, this was approximately correct. Physiocracy is one of the "early modern" schools of economics. Physiocrats called for the abolition of all existing taxes, completely free trade and a single tax on land.{{cite web|url=http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/schools/physioc.htm |access-date=18 March 2009 |publisher=The History of Economic Thought Website |last=Fonseca |first=Gonçalo L |title=The Physiocrats |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227181713/http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/schools/physioc.htm |archive-date=27 February 2009 }} They did not distinguish between the intrinsic value of land and ground rent.{{cite web|url=http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/fraenckel-axel_physiocrats-and-henry-george.html |first=Axel |last=Fraenckel |title=The Physiocrats and Henry George |access-date=10 July 2008 |work=4th International Conference of the International Union for Land Value Taxation and Free Trade |publisher=The School of Cooperative Individualism |year=1929 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906195744/http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/fraenckel-axel_physiocrats-and-henry-george.html |archive-date=6 September 2008 }} Their theories originated in France and were most popular during the second half of the 18th century. The movement was particularly dominated by Anne Robert Jacques Turgot (1727–1781) and François Quesnay (1694–1774).{{Citation|last=Steiner|first=Philippe|chapter=Physiocracy and French Pre-classical Political Economy|chapter-url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470999059.ch5|pages=61–77|place=Malden, MA, USA|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd|access-date=28 December 2021|year=2003 |editor-last1=Biddle |editor-first1=Jeff E |editor-last2=Davis |editor-first2=Jon B |editor-last3=Samuels |editor-first3=Warren J.|title=A Companion to the History of Economic Thought|doi=10.1002/9780470999059.ch5|isbn=9780470999059}} It influenced contemporary statesmen, such as Charles Alexandre de Calonne. The physiocrats were highly influential in the early history of land value taxation in the United States.

A participant in the Radical Movement, Thomas Paine contended in his Agrarian Justice pamphlet that all citizens should be paid 15 pounds at age 21 "as a compensation in part for the loss of his or her natural inheritance by the introduction of the system of landed property." "Men did not make the earth. It is the value of the improvements only, and not the earth itself, that is individual property. Every proprietor owes to the community a ground rent for the land which he holds."{{cite web|url=http://www.constitution.org/tp/agjustice.htm|access-date=23 December 2012|publisher=Constitution Society|last=Paine|first=Thomas|title=Agrarian Justice}} This proposal was the origin of the citizen's dividend advocated by Geolibertarianism. Thomas Spence advocated a similar proposal except that the land rent would be distributed equally each year regardless of age.{{cite web|url=http://thomas-spence-society.co.uk/4.html |access-date=23 December 2012 |publisher=The Thomas Spence Society |last=Spence |first=Thomas |title=The Rights of Infants |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321041404/http://thomas-spence-society.co.uk/4.html |archive-date=21 March 2013 }}

Adam Smith, in his 1776 book The Wealth of Nations, first rigorously analyzed the effects of a land value tax, pointing out how it would not hurt economic activity, and how it would not raise contract rents.

{{Blockquote

|Ground-rents are a still more proper subject of taxation than the rent of houses. A tax upon ground-rents would not raise the rents of houses. It would fall altogether upon the owner of the ground-rent, who acts always as a monopolist, and exacts the greatest rent which can be got for the use of his ground. More or less can be got for it according as the competitors happen to be richer or poorer, or can afford to gratify their fancy for a particular spot of ground at a greater or smaller expense. In every country the greatest number of rich competitors is in the capital, and it is there accordingly that the highest ground-rents are always to be found. As the wealth of those competitors would in no respect be increased by a tax upon ground-rents, they would not probably be disposed to pay more for the use of the ground. Whether the tax was to be advanced by the inhabitant, or by the owner of the ground, would be of little importance. The more the inhabitant was obliged to pay for the tax, the less he would incline to pay for the ground; so that the final payment of the tax would fall altogether upon the owner of the ground-rent.

|Adam Smith

|The Wealth of Nations, Book V, Chapter 2, Article I: Taxes upon the Rent of Houses

}}

File:Henry George.jpg in 1865]]

{{Main|Henry George|Georgism}}

Henry George (2 September 1839 – 29 October 1897) was perhaps the most famous advocate of recovering land rents for public purposes. A journalist, politician, and political economist, he advocated a "single tax" on land that would eliminate the need for all other taxes. George first articulated the proposal in Our Land and Land Policy (1871).{{cite book|last=George|first=Henry|year=1871|title=Our Land and Land Policy, National and State|url=https://archive.org/details/ourlandandlandp00georgoog|publisher=White & Bauer [etc.]|pages=35–48|isbn=9781230444703|author-link=Henry George}} Later, in his best-selling work Progress and Poverty (1879), George argued that because the value of land depends on natural qualities combined with the economic activity of communities, including public investments, the economic rent of land was the best source of tax revenue. This book significantly influenced land taxation in the United States and other countries, including Denmark, which continues grundskyld ('ground duty') as a key component of its tax system. The philosophy that natural resource rents should be captured by society is now often known as Georgism. Its relevance to public finance is underpinned by the Henry George theorem.

Henry George (1839–1897) was an American economist who developed the concept of the Single Tax on land value.{{Cite web |title=Progress and Poverty {{!}} Online Library of Liberty |url=https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/george-progress-and-poverty |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=oll.libertyfund.org}} In his 1879 book Progress and Poverty, George argued that private land ownership allowed individuals to gain unearned income through rising land values,{{Cite book |last=Roncaglia |first=Alessandro |title=A Brief History of Economic Thought |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2017}} contributing to inequality and poverty. He believed that as populations increased and cities expanded, landowners profited not from their own labor but from the economic activity of society. George’s proposed land value tax was designed to capture this unearned income and redistribute it for public benefit.{{Cite book |last=Dye |first=Richard F. |title=Land Value Taxation: Theory, Evidence, and Practice |publisher=Lincoln Institute of Land Policy |date=May 28, 2009 |isbn=978-1558441859 |edition=Illustrated}} His ideas influenced urban policy debates in the United States and abroad and continue to be discussed in relation to housing affordability and wealth inequality. Modern economists, including Thomas Piketty, have noted that land and real estate remain significant sources of wealth concentration.{{Cite book |last1=Piketty |first1=Thomas |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wpqbc |title=Capital in the Twenty-First Century |last2=Goldhammer |first2=Arthur |date=2014 |publisher=Harvard University Press |jstor=j.ctt6wpqbc |isbn=978-0-674-43000-6}} George's work is recognized for linking economic justice to land ownership and for promoting policy reforms aimed at reducing inequality.

After the 1868 Meiji Restoration in Japan, land tax reform was undertaken. An LVT was implemented beginning in 1873. By 1880 initial problems with valuation and rural opposition had been overcome and rapid industrialisation began.{{cite journal|last1=Takao|first1=Takeda|title=The Financial Policy of the Meiji Government|journal=The Developing Economies|date=December 1965|volume=3|issue=4|pages=427–449 |doi=10.1111/j.1746-1049.1965.tb00767.x |doi-access=free}}

In the United Kingdom, LVT was an important part of the platform of the Liberal Party during the early part of the twentieth century. David Lloyd George and H. H. Asquith proposed "to free the land that from this very hour is shackled with the chains of feudalism."{{cite news |url= http://www.newstatesman.co.uk/landreform/lr200409200008.htm |title=A revolutionary who won over Victorian liberals |work=New Statesman |location= London |date=20 September 2004 |access-date=13 February 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060110135144/http://www.newstatesman.co.uk/landreform/lr200409200008.htm|archive-date=10 January 2006 }} It was also advocated by Winston Churchill early in his career.{{cite web |url=http://home.vicnet.net.au/~earthshr/winston.html |first=Winston |last=Churchill |title=Land Price as a Cause of Poverty |access-date=13 February 2009 |year=1909 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011217193137/http://home.vicnet.net.au/~earthshr/winston.html |archive-date=17 December 2001}} The modern Liberal Party (not to be confused with the Liberal Democrats, who are the heir to the earlier Liberal Party and who offer some support for the idea){{cite web |url=http://libdemsalter.org.uk/en/ |title=Action for Land Taxation and Economic Reform |publisher=Liberal Democrat ALTER }} remains committed to a local form of LVT,{{cite web |url=http://www.liberal.org.uk/policies/planning.htm#public |title=Policy Statement – Planning |publisher=The Liberal Party |access-date=13 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129193739/http://liberal.org.uk/policies/planning.htm#public |archive-date=29 January 2009 }} as do the Green Party of England and Wales{{cite web|url=http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/downloads/mfssld.pdf |title=Land |work=Manifesto for a Sustainable Society |publisher=Green Party of England and Wales |date=March 2000 |access-date=5 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908092903/http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/downloads/mfssld.pdf |archive-date=8 September 2008 }} and the Scottish Greens.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3505928.stm|title=Greens unveil land tax proposals|work=BBC News|date=12 March 2004|access-date=22 December 2008}}

The 1931 Labour budget included an LVT, but before it came into force it was repealed by the Conservative-dominated national government that followed.{{Cite book|title=Land-value taxation: the equitable and efficient source of public finance|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=0-7656-0448-5|location=Armonk, N.Y.|oclc=40555854| last = Wenzer | first = Kenneth C. | year = 1999 | page = 163 }}

An attempt at introducing LVT in the administrative County of London was made by the local authority under the leadership of Herbert Morrison in the 1938–1939 Parliament, called the London Rating (Site Values) Bill. Although it failed, it detailed legislation for the implementation of a system of LVT using annual value assessment.{{Cite web |url=http://www.landvaluetax.org/government-papers/london-rating-site-values-a-bill.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120225523/http://www.landvaluetax.org/government-papers/london-rating-site-values-a-bill.html |archive-date=2008-11-20 |title=London Rating (Site Values) — A Bill|access-date=22 December 2008|website=Land Value Taxation Campaign}}

After 1945, the Labour Party adopted the policy, against substantial opposition, of collecting "development value": the increase in land price arising from planning consent.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} This was one of the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act 1947, but it was repealed when the Labour government lost power in 1951.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Senior Labour figures in recent times have advocated an LVT, notably Andy Burnham in his 2010 leadership campaign, former Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn, and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

The Republic of China was one of the first jurisdictions to implement an LVT, specified in its constitution. Sun Yat-Sen would learn about LVT from the Kiautschou Bay concession, which had successful implementation of LVT, bringing increased wealth and financial stability to the colony. The Republic of China would go on to implement LVT in farms at first, later implementing it in the urban areas due to its success.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/chandler-tertius_tax-we-need-1980-02.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110172449/http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/chandler-tertius_tax-we-need-1980-02.html|archive-date=10 January 2014|title=The Tax We Need|publisher=Tertius Chandler}}

Alfred Marshall argued in favour of a "fresh air rate", a tax to be charged to urban landowners and levied on that value of urban land that is caused by the concentration of population.{{cite book|author=Alfred Marshall|title=Principles of Economics|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=7yxBAAAAIAAJ |page= 718}}|year=1895|publisher=Macmillan |page=718}} That general rate should have to be spent on breaking out small green spots in the midst of dense industrial districts, and on the preservation of large green areas between different towns and between different suburbs which are tending to coalesce. This idea influenced Marshall's pupil Arthur Pigou's ideas on taxing negative externalities.{{Cite web|title = ESHET CONFERENCE – The Practices of Economists in the Past and Today – Amsterdam|url = http://www.eshet.net/conference/paper_view.php?id=811&p=33|website = www.eshet.net|access-date = 20 August 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161220123938/http://www.eshet.net/conference/paper_view.php?id=811&p=33|archive-date = 20 December 2016}}

Pigou wrote an essay in favor of the land value tax, calling it "an exceptionally good object for taxation." His views were interpreted as support for Lloyd George's People's Budget.{{cite book

|last=Pigou

|first=Arthur Cecil

|year=1909

|title=The policy of land taxation.

|publisher=New York, Longmans, Green

|oclc=12218279

}}

Paul Samuelson supported LVT. "Our ideal society finds it essential to put a rent on land as a way of maximizing the total consumption available to the society. ...Pure land rent is in the nature of a 'surplus' which can be taxed heavily without distorting production incentives or efficiency. A land value tax can be called 'the useful tax on measured land surplus'."

Milton Friedman stated: "There's a sense in which all taxes are antagonistic to free enterprise – and yet we need taxes. ...So the question is, which are the least bad taxes? In my opinion the least bad tax is the property tax on the unimproved value of land, the Henry George argument of many, many years ago."{{cite book|author=Nicolaus Tideman|title=Land and taxation|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=s0wgAQAAIAAJ}}|date=1 January 1994|publisher=Shepheard-Walwyn in association with Centre for Incentive Taxation (London, England)|isbn=978-0-85683-162-1}}

Paul Krugman agreed that LVT is efficient, however he disputed whether it should be considered a single tax, as he believed it would not be enough alone, excluding taxes on natural resource rents and other Georgist taxes, to fund a welfare state. "Believe it or not, urban economics models actually do suggest that Georgist taxation would be the right approach at least to finance city growth. But I would just say: I don't think you can raise nearly enough money to run a modern welfare state by taxing land [only]."{{Cite web|url = https://psmag.com/this-land-is-your-land-2a060d28bd4f|title = This Land Is Your Land|date = 20 October 2009|access-date = 20 August 2015|last = Moore|first = Michael Scott}}

Joseph Stiglitz, articulating the Henry George theorem wrote that, "Not only was Henry George correct that a tax on land is nondistortionary, but in an equalitarian society ... tax on land raises just enough revenue to finance the (optimally chosen) level of government expenditure."{{cite book|last1=Stiglitz|first1=Joseph|editor1-last=Feldstein|editor1-first=Martin|editor2-last=Inman|editor2-first=Robert|title=The Economics of Public Services|date=1977|publisher=Macmillan Publishers|location=London|pages=274–333|chapter=The theory of local public goods}} Quote from page 282.

Michael Hudson is a proponent for taxing rent, especially land rent. ".... politically, taxing economic rent has become the bête noire of neoliberal globalism. It is what property owners and rentiers fear most of all, as land, subsoil resources and natural monopolies far exceed industrial capital in magnitude. What appears in the statistics at first glance as 'profit' turns out upon examination to be Ricardian or 'economic' rent."

Rick Falkvinge proposed a "simplified taxless state" where the state owns all the land it can defend from other states and leases this land to people at market rates.{{Cite web|url= https://falkvinge.net/2017/03/01/a-simplified-taxless-state-a-proposal-part-1/|title = A Simplified Taxless State: A Proposal (part 1 of 3)|date = 5 March 2017|access-date = 13 June 2019}}

Fred Foldvary, an Austrian economist, has expressed support for the LVT and has integrated Georgist and Austrian models into his theory of the business cycle. "Conventional macroeconomics lacks a warranted explanation of the major business cycle, while the Austrian and geo-economic Georgist schools have incomplete theories. A geo-Austrian synthesis, in contrast, provides a potent theory consistent with historical cycles and with explanations about the root causes."{{Cite journal|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1536-7150.1997.tb02657.x |title = The Business Cycle: A Georgist-Austrian Synthesis Economists| journal=The American Journal of Economics and Sociology |date =3 July 2006 | volume=56 | issue=4 | pages=521–524 |publisher=Wiley Online Library| doi=10.1111/j.1536-7150.1997.tb02657.x | last1=Foldvary | first1=Fred E. }}

{{see also|Property tax#By jurisdiction}}

Land taxes in Australia are levied by the states. The exemption thresholds vary, as do tax rates and other rules.

In New South Wales, the state land tax exempts farmland and principal residences and there is a tax threshold. Determination of land value for tax purposes is the responsibility of the Valuer-General.{{cite web |url=http://www.lands.nsw.gov.au/valuation |title=NSW.gov.au |publisher=Lands.nsw.gov.au |access-date=25 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702135627/http://www.lands.nsw.gov.au/valuation |archive-date=2 July 2010 }} In Victoria, the land tax threshold is {{val|p=$|50000|fmt=commas}} on the total value of all Victorian property owned by a person on 31 December of each year and taxed at a progressive rate. The principal residence, primary production land and land used by a charity are exempt from land tax.{{cite web |title=State Revenue Office, Land Tax |url=https://www.sro.vic.gov.au/land-tax |access-date=19 December 2024 |website=sro.vic.gov.au}} In Tasmania the threshold is {{val|p=$|25000|fmt=commas}} and the audit date is 1 July. Between {{val|p=$|25000|fmt=commas}} and {{val|p=$|350000|fmt=commas}} the tax rate is 0.55% and over {{val|p=$|350000|fmt=commas}} it is 1.5%.{{Cite web |url=http://www.sro.tas.gov.au/domino/dtf/SROWebsite.nsf/v-all/58F1DB55D3494B11CA257D5B00045AAB/$file/Land%20Tax%20Summary.pdf |title=Land Tax {{!}} 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017 {{!}} Tasmania |access-date=10 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170303084507/http://www.sro.tas.gov.au/domino/dtf/SROWebsite.nsf/v-all/58F1DB55D3494B11CA257D5B00045AAB/$file/Land%20Tax%20Summary.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2017 }} In Queensland, the threshold for individuals is {{val|p=$|600000|fmt=commas}} and {{val|p=$|350000|fmt=commas}} for other entities, and the audit date is 30 June.{{cite web|url=https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/tax/overview/about/|title=What is land tax? – Environment, land and water |publisher=Queensland Government |work=Department of Environment and Heritage Protection |access-date=3 April 2018}} In South Australia the threshold is {{val|p=$|332000|fmt=commas}} and taxed at a progressive rate, the audit date is 30 June.{{Cite web |url=https://www.revenuesa.sa.gov.au/taxes-and-duties/land-tax/forms/LTGxx_0317.pdf |title=Guide to Land Tax: Land Tax Act 1936 |access-date=10 April 2017 |archive-date=11 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411135307/https://www.revenuesa.sa.gov.au/taxes-and-duties/land-tax/forms/LTGxx_0317.pdf |url-status=dead }}

By revenue, property taxes represent 4.5% of total taxation in Australia.{{cite web|url=http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/5506.0Main%20Features32007-08?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=5506.0&issue=2007-08&num=&view= |title=5506.0 – Taxation Revenue, Australia, 2007–08 |date=14 April 2009 |access-date=26 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830001927/http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs%40.nsf/Latestproducts/5506.0Main%20Features32007-08?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=5506.0&issue=2007-08&num=&view= |archive-date=30 August 2009 }} A government report{{Cite web |url=http://www.landvaluetax.org/government-papers/brisbanes-inquiry-into-land-value-rating.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106204300/http://www.landvaluetax.org/government-papers/brisbanes-inquiry-into-land-value-rating.html |archive-date=2009-01-06 |title=Brisbane's Inquiry into Land Value Rating|website=Land Value Taxation Campaign|access-date=22 December 2008}} in 1986 for Brisbane, Queensland advocated an LVT.

The Henry Tax Review of 2010 commissioned by the federal government recommended that state governments replace stamp duty with LVT. The review proposed multiple marginal rates and that most agricultural land would be in the lowest band with a rate of zero. The Australian Capital Territory moved to adopt this system and planned to reduce stamp duty by 5% and raise land tax by 5% for each of twenty years.

Bernard Clerfayt called for the overhaul of the property tax in the Brussels region, with a higher tax for land values than for buildings.{{cite journal|date=26 July 2009|title=Belgian overhaul|url=https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/archivelandliberty/Land+%26+Liberty+Magazine/Archive/2000s/Land+and+Liberty+2008-2009+-+115+%26+116+Years/Land+and+Liberty+2008-2009+-+115+%26+116+Years.pdf|journal=Land&Liberty|volume=116|issue=1224|issn=0023-7574}}

LVTs were common in Western Canada at the turn of the twentieth century. In Vancouver LVT became the sole form of municipal taxation in 1910 under the leadership of mayor, Louis D. Taylor.{{cite book|last=Francis|first=Daniel|title=L.D.: Mayor Louis Taylor and the rise of Vancouver|publisher=Arsenal Pulp Press|location=Vancouver|year=2004|pages=82–83|isbn=978-1-55152-156-5}} Gary B. Nixon (2000) stated that the rate never exceeded 2% of land value, too low to prevent the speculation that led directly to the 1913 real estate crash.{{Cite journal|last=Nixon|first=Gary B.|date=1 November 2000|title=Canada|journal=American Journal of Economics and Sociology|language=en|volume=59|issue=5|pages=65–84|doi=10.1111/1536-7150.00086|issn=1536-7150}} All Canadian provinces later taxed improvements. The 2022 value of land in Canada, as reported by the National Balance Sheet, is $5.824 trillion. LVTs can be somewhat controversial in Canada because of the already high cost of property that many Canadians struggle to afford.{{cite web |last=Yang |first=Ken |title=Taxing land can provide $194 billion for Canadians |website=Common Wealth Canada |url=https://www.commonwealth.ca/blog/taxing-land-can-provide-194-billion-for-canadians |date=2023-10-16 |access-date=2024-04-21}}

Estonia levies an LVT to fund municipalities. It is a state-level tax, but 100% of the revenue funds local councils. The rate is set by the local council within the limits of 0.1–2.5%. It is one of the most important sources of funding for municipalities.{{cite web|title=Land Taxation Reform in Estonia|url=http://aysps.gsu.edu/isp/files/ISP_CONFERENCES_PROPERTY_TAX_06_TIITS_PAPER.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806011749/http://aysps.gsu.edu/isp/files/ISP_CONFERENCES_PROPERTY_TAX_06_TIITS_PAPER.pdf|archive-date=6 August 2010}} LVT is levied on the value of the land only. Few exemptions are available and even public institutions are subject to it. Church sites are exempt, but other land held by religious institutions is not. The tax has contributed to a high rate (~90%) of owner-occupied residences within Estonia, compared to a rate of 67.4% in the United States.{{cite web|author=SAURUS - www.saurus.info |url=http://www.fin.ee/index.php?id=81575 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120730061745/http://www.fin.ee/index.php?id=81575 |archive-date=30 July 2012 |title=Land Tax law in Estonia |publisher=Fin.ee |date=1 July 1993 |access-date=16 May 2012 }}

In 2020 the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg agreed on a modified version of the LVT. Starting in 2025, 1.3‰ of the land value is taxed annually. The modification concerns tax reductions for different land uses such as (social) housing, forestry and cultural sites. Baden-Württemberg is the only state in Germany to replace its previous property tax by a LVT.

The decision has been met with criticism. It's argued that the change unequally benefits wealthy real estate owners who previously had to pay property tax.{{Cite web |last=Aktuell |first=S. W. R. |date=2023-03-04 |title=Fragen und Antworten zur Grundsteuer: Wie funktioniert der Einspruch? Was kostet ein Verfahren? |url=https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/faq-grundsteuerbescheid-bw-100.html |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=swr.online |language=de}}

Government rent in Hong Kong, formerly the crown rent, is levied in addition to rates. Properties located in the New Territories (including New Kowloon) or located in the rest of the territory and whose land grant was recorded after 27 May 1985, pay 3% of the rateable rental value.{{cite web|url=http://www.landsd.gov.hk/en/gov_rent/rent1.htm |title=Lands Department – Payment of Government Rent |publisher=Landsd.gov.hk |access-date=16 May 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.rvd.gov.hk/en/public/rent.htm |title=Rating and Valuation Department – Public Services |publisher=Rvd.gov.hk |access-date=16 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429170138/http://www.rvd.gov.hk/en/public/rent.htm |archive-date=29 April 2012 }} Hong Kong is unique in a way because the government owns virtually all the land and allows for long term leases which is how they make their income off property.{{Cite web |title=Hong Kong SAR - Individual - Other Taxes |url=https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/hong-kong-sar/individual/other-taxes |publisher=PwC |accessdate=2024-04-18}} Hong Kong levies a property tax known as "rates," which is a tax on the occupation of property or payable by the owner of unoccupied property. This is calculated as a percentage of the property's estimated rental value, assessed quarterly.

Municipal governments in Hungary levy an LVT based on the area or the land's adjusted market value. The maximum rate is 3% of the adjusted market value.{{Cite web|title=Hungary {{!}} Taxation in Agriculture {{!}} OECD iLibrary|url=https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/782f19b5-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/782f19b5-en#:~:text=Municipal%20government%20charge%20taxes%20on,is%20exempt%20from%20property%20tax.|access-date=20 March 2021|website=www.oecd-ilibrary.org|language=en}}

Kenya's LVT history dates to at least 1972, shortly after it achieved independence. Local governments must tax land value but are required to seek approval from the central government for rates that exceed 4 percent. Buildings were not taxed in Kenya as of 2000. The central government is legally required to pay municipalities for the value of land it occupies. Kelly claimed that possibly as a result of this land reform, Kenya became the only stable country in its region.{{cite web|url=https://www.lincolninst.edu/subcenters/property-valuation-and-taxation-library/dl/kelly.pdf |year=2000 |title=Property Taxation in East Africa: The Tale of Three Reforms|last1=Kelly|first1=Roy|publisher=Lincoln Institute of Land Policy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512215713/https://www.lincolninst.edu/subcenters/property-valuation-and-taxation-library/dl/kelly.pdf|archive-date=12 May 2016|access-date=25 May 2015}} As of late 2014, the city of Nairobi still taxed only land values, although a tax on improvements had been proposed.{{cite news|url=http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Nairobi-property-owners-brace-for-higher-land-rates/-/539546/2457448/-/vm2tet/-/index.html|title=Nairobi property owners brace for higher land rates|last1=NJOROGE|first1=KIARIE|date=18 September 2014|access-date=25 May 2015|agency=Business Daily}}

The capital city of Baja California, Mexicali, has had an LVT since the 1990s, when it became the first locality in Mexico to implement such a tax.{{Cite journal|last=Perlo Cohen|first=Manuel|date=September 1999|title=Mexicali: A Success Story of Property Tax Reform|url=http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/PubDetail.aspx?pubid=334|journal=Land Lines|volume=11|access-date=22 December 2008}}

A land value taxation on rural land was introduced in Namibia, with the primary intention of improving land use.{{cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2013/wp13129.pdf|title=Taxing Immovable Property Revenue Potential and Implementation Challenges|last1=Norregaard|first1=John|publisher=IMF Fiscal Affairs Department|access-date=25 May 2015}}

In 1990, several economists wroteWikisource:Open letter to Mikhail Gorbachev (1990) to then President Mikhail Gorbachev suggesting that Russia adopt LVT. Currently, Russia has an LVT of 0.3% on residential, agricultural and utilities lands as well as a 1.5% tax for other types of land.

Singapore owns the majority of its land, which it leases for 99-year terms. In addition, Singapore taxes development uplift at around 70%. These two sources of revenue fund most of Singapore's new infrastructure.

South Korea has an aggregate land tax that is levied annually based on an individual's landholding value across the whole country. Speculative and residential land has a progressive tax rate of 0.2–5%, commercial and building sites 0.3–2%, farm and forest lands 0.1% and luxury properties 5%.{{Cite web|last=Ro|first=Younghoon|date=2001|title=Land Value Taxation in South Korea|publisher=Lincoln Institute of Land Policy|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep18263}}

{{Main|:es:Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles|l1=Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles}}

As of 2010, land value taxes and land value increment taxes accounted for 8.4% of total government revenue in Taiwan.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ttc.gov.tw/public/Attachment/17259265274.pdf|title=A General Description of Taxation|date=2011|access-date=6 May 2019}}

The Thai government introduced the Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 in March 2019, which came into effect on 1 January 2020. It sets a maximum tax rate of 1.2% on commercial and vacant land, 0.3% on residential land and 0.15% on agricultural land.{{Cite web|date=20 February 2020|title=Thailand's New Land and Building Tax Act|url=https://www.aseanbriefing.com/news/thailands-new-land-building-tax-act/|access-date=20 March 2021|website=ASEAN Business News|language=en}}

{{Main|Land value tax in the United States}}

In the late 19th century George's followers founded a single tax colony at Fairhope, Alabama. Although the colony, now a nonprofit corporation, still holds land in the area and collects a relatively small ground rent, the land is subject to state and local property taxes.{{cite web|url=http://www.fairhopesingletax.com/index.html |title=Land value tax in Fairhope | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110309054205/http://www.fairhopesingletax.com/index.html|archive-date=9 March 2011}}

Common property taxes include land value, which usually has a separate assessment. Thus, land value taxation already exists in many jurisdictions. Some jurisdictions have attempted to rely more heavily on it. In Pennsylvania, certain cities raised the tax on land value while reducing the tax on improvement/building/structure values. For example, the city of Altoona adopted a property tax that solely taxed land value in 2002, but repealed the tax in 2016.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/1226565/the-short-life-of-pennsylvanias-radical-tax-reform|title=The short life of Pennsylvania's radical tax reform|work=Washington Examiner|access-date=29 December 2024}} Many Pennsylvania cities use a split-rate tax, which taxes the value of land at a higher rate than the value of buildings.

In Zimbabwe, government coalition partners the Movement for Democratic Change adopted LVT.{{cite journal

| title = Blessed be the land of Zimbabwe, etc

| journal = Land&Liberty

| volume = 115

| issue = 1222

| date = 29 August 2008

| issn = 0023-7574

}}

China's Real Rights Law contains provisions founded on LVT analysis.{{cite journal

| title = China: private property, common resources

| journal = Land&Liberty

| volume = 114

| issue = 1218

| date =Summer 2008

| url = http://LandandLiberty.net

| issn = 0023-7574

| access-date = 20 August 2009}}

In 2010 the government of Ireland announced that it would introduce an LVT, beginning in 2013.{{Cite web|last=Ryan|first=Susan|title=Government announces new "site value tax" from 2012|url=https://www.thejournal.ie/government-announces-new-site-value-tax-from-2012-49948-Nov2010/|access-date=28 December 2021|website=TheJournal.ie|date=24 November 2010 |language=en}} The government adopted a four-year plan, proposing that an "interim site value tax" would be introduced in 2012; this would not be a true LVT, because the same tax would be levied on all properties regardless of value. A true LVT was to commence in 2013 when land valuations have been conducted. Following a 2011 change in government, a property tax was introduced instead.

After decades of a modest LVT, New Zealand abolished it in 1990. Discussions continue as to whether or not to bring it back. Earlier Georgist politicians included Patrick O'Regan and Tom Paul (who was Vice-President of the New Zealand Land Values League).

In September 1908, Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George instructed McKenna, the First Lord of the Admiralty, to build more Dreadnoughts. The ships were to be financed by an LVT. Lloyd George believed that relating national defence to land tax would both provoke the opposition of the House of Lords and rally the people round a simple emotive issue. The Lords, composed of wealthy landowners, rejected the Budget in November 1909, leading to a constitutional crisis.{{Cite book|last=Hill |first=Malcolm|title=Enemy of injustice: the life of Andrew MacLaren, Member of Parliament|date=1999|publisher=Othila Press|isbn=1-901647-20-X|oclc=45829958}}

LVT was on the UK statute books briefly in 1931, introduced by Philip Snowden's 1931 budget, strongly supported by prominent LVT campaigner Andrew MacLaren MP. MacLaren lost his seat at the next election (1931) and the act was repealed. MacLaren tried again with a private member's bill in 1937; it was rejected 141 to 118.{{Cite book|last=Stewart|first=John|title=Standing for justice: a biography of Andrew MacLaren, MP|date=2001|publisher=Shepheard-Walwyn|isbn=0-85683-194-8|location=London|oclc=49362105}}

[http://www.labourland.org/ Labour Land Campaign] advocates within the Labour Party and the broader labour movement for "a more equitable distribution of the Land Values that are created by the whole community" through LVT. Its membership includes members of the British Labour Party, trade unions and cooperatives and individuals.{{cite web|url=http://www.labourland.org/ |title=Labour Land Campaign website |publisher=labourland.org |access-date=25 November 2010}} The Liberal Democrats' ALTER (Action for Land Taxation and Economic Reform) aims:

{{blockquote|to improve the understanding of and support for Land Value Taxation amongst members of the Liberal Democrats; to encourage all Liberal Democrats to promote and campaign for this policy as part of a more sustainable and just resource based economic system in which no one is enslaved by poverty; and to cooperate with other bodies, both inside and outside the Liberal Democrat Party, who share these objectives.{{cite web|url=http://www.libdemsalter.org.uk/ |title=Libdemsalter.org.uk |publisher=Libdemsalter.org.uk |access-date=25 September 2010}}}}

The Green Party "favour moving to a system of Land Value Tax, where the level of taxation depends on the rental value of the land concerned."{{Cite web|url=https://greenparty.org.uk/about/our-manifesto/|title=Our 2024 General Election Manifesto}}

A course in "Economics with Justice"{{cite web |url=http://www.economicswithjustice.co.uk |title=EconomicsWithJustice.co.uk |publisher=EconomicsWithJustice.co.uk |access-date=25 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100502062041/http://www.economicswithjustice.co.uk/ |archive-date=2 May 2010 }} with a strong foundation in LVT is offered at the School of Economic Science, which was founded by Andrew MacLaren MP and has historical links with the Henry George Foundation.{{cite web|url=http://www.henrygeorgefoundation.org/cej/the-school-of-economic-science.html |title=HenryGeorgeFoundation.org |publisher=HenryGeorgeFoundation.org |access-date=25 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101006175720/http://www.henrygeorgefoundation.org/cej/the-school-of-economic-science.html |archive-date= 6 October 2010 }}{{Cite book|title=In search of truth: the story of the School of Economic Science|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=EiMqAQAAMAAJ}}|last=Hodgkinson |first=Brian|date=2010|publisher=Shepheard-Walwyn|isbn=9780856832765|location=London|oclc=670184437}}

In February 1998, the Scottish Office of the British Government launched a public consultation process on land reform.{{cite web|publisher=Scottish Office, Land Reform Policy Group|title=Identifying the Problems|date=February 1998|url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library/documents1/lrpg09.htm |website=Scottish Government|access-date=21 August 2009|archive-date=23 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123012132/http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library/documents1/lrpg09.htm}} A survey of the public response found that: "excluding the responses of the lairds and their agents, reckoned as likely prejudiced against the measure, 20% of all responses favoured the land tax" (12% in grand total, without the exclusions).Land Reform Scotland, Responses to the Scottish Office Consultation Paper Identifying the Problems—A Survey and Simple Statistical Analysis, 10 September 1998 The government responded by announcing "a comprehensive economic evaluation of the possible impact of moving to a land value taxation basis".{{Cite book |url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library/documents-w4/lrpg-00.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906131434/http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library/documents-w4/lrpg-00.htm |archive-date=2008-09-06 |title=Recommendations for action: January 1999|date=1998 |publisher=Scottish Office |isbn=0-7480-7251-9 |oclc=41076474}} (Recommendation G8) However, no measure was adopted.{{cite web|url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/farmingrural/Rural/rural-land/right-to-buy/Resources/Land-Reform |title=Land Reform History |publisher=Scottish Government |date=6 July 2009 |access-date=16 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121006200546/http://www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/farmingrural/Rural/rural-land/right-to-buy/Resources/Land-Reform |archive-date= Oct 6, 2012 }}

In 2000 the Parliament's Local Government Committee's{{cite web |url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/lgc/index.htm |title= Local Government and Communities |publisher=The Scottish Parliament |access-date=25 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001230349/http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/lgc/index.htm |archive-date=1 October 2010 }} inquiry into local government finance explicitly included LVT,{{cite web|date=13 November 2000|url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/nmCentre/news/news-comm-00/clg00-031.htm |title=Parliament Committee announces Terms of Reference for Inquiry into Local Government Finance |website=The Scottish Parliament |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605222615/http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/nmCentre/news/news-comm-00/clg00-031.htm |archive-date=5 June 2011 }} but the final report omitted any mention.{{cite web |website=Scottish Parliament |title= Local Government Committee, 6th Report 2002, Report on Inquiry into Local Government Finance, Volume 1 : Report |date=2002 |url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/historic/x-lg/reports-02/lgr02-06-vol01-02.htm#3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090621175229/http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/historic/x-lg/reports-02/lgr02-06-vol01-02.htm#3 |archive-date=21 June 2009 }}

In 2003 the Scottish Parliament passed a resolution: "That the Parliament notes recent studies by the Scottish Executive and is interested in building on them by considering and investigating the contribution that land value taxation could make to the cultural, economic, environmental and democratic renaissance of Scotland."{{cite web|title=Minutes of Proceedings, Meeting of the Parliament, Vol 4 No 47 Session 1 |date=30 January 2003 |website=Scottish Parliament |url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/chamber/mop-03/mop-01-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501050914/http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/chamber/mop-03/mop-01-30.htm |archive-date= 1 May 2011 }}

In 2004 a letter of support was sent from members of the Scottish Parliament to the organisers and delegates of the IU's 24th international conference—including members of the Scottish Greens, the Scottish Socialist Party and the Scottish National Party."Scotland is in the throes of releasing itself from the shackles of a historical inheritance of landed privilege.... On a global scale, the failure to share equitably the value of our common birthrights can grow awful grievances, which bring terrible consequences, such as was visited upon your host city [eleven weeks earlier].... [W]e must make practical changes to our social systems. We believe that the taxing of land values will be a key policy reform for the twenty-first century. Scotland must adopt it..." Letter dated (fax) 29 May, signed by members Mark Ballard, Robin Harper, Shiona Baird, Mark Ruskell, Chris Balance, Eleanor Scott, Patrick Harvie, Rosie Kane, Rosemary Byrne, and Rob Gibson

The policy was considered in the 2006 Scottish Local Government Finance Review, whose 2007 Report[http://www.ipp.org.nz/localgovtfiles/Funding%2Band%2Brating/Scott...funding%2Breport%2B06.pdf IPP.org.nz]{{dead link|date=June 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} concluded that "although land value taxation meets a number of our criteria, we question whether the public would accept the upheaval involved in radical reform of this nature, unless they could clearly understand the nature of the change and the benefits involved.... We considered at length the many positive features of a land value tax which are consistent with our recommended local property tax [LPT], particularly its progressive nature." However, "[h]aving considered both rateable value and land value as the basis for taxation, we concur with Layfield (UK Committee of Inquiry, 1976) who recommended that any local property tax should be based on capital values."{{cite news|title=SLGFR news: a fairer way|publisher=Land&Liberty |volume= 112 |issue=1216 |date=2006–2007}}

In 2009, Glasgow City Council resolved to introduce LVT by saying "the idea could become the blueprint for Scotland's future local taxation".{{Cite news

| last = Maddox

| first = David

| title = Scotland's biggest city backs plan to replace council tax

| work= The Scotsman

| date = 26 June 2009

| url = http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/politics/Scotland39s-biggest-city-backs-plan.5404468.jp

}} The Council agreed to{{cite web|url=http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/YourCouncil/Council_Committees/Committees/Minutes_Agendas/ |title=Council Minutes |year=2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111074413/http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/YourCouncil/Council_Committees/Committees/Minutes_Agendas/ |archive-date=11 January 2010 }} a "long term move to a local property tax / land value tax hybrid tax". Its Local Taxation Working Group stated that simple [non-hybrid] land value taxation should itself "not be discounted as an option for local taxation reform: it potentially holds many benefits and addresses many existing concerns".{{cite journal

| title = Glasgow goes for land tax

| journal = Land&Liberty

| volume = 116

| issue = 1224

| date = 26 July 2009

| url = http://LandandLiberty.net

| issn = 0023-7574

| access-date = 20 August 2009}}

{{Expand section|date=November 2019}}

{{cols|colwidth=13em}}

• Citizen's dividend
• Classical economics
• Danegeld
• Ecotax
• Equity in taxation
• Excess profits tax
• Geographic information system
• Geolibertarianism
• Georgism
• Inheritance tax
• International Union for Land Value Taxation (The IU)
• Land (economics)
• Land monopolization and reform
• Land speculation
• Land tenure and registration
• Law of rent
• Lockean proviso
• Natural resource economics
• Open letter to Gorbachev
• Optimal tax
• Physiocracy
• Pigovian tax
• Progressive tax
• Property rights (economics)
• Property Tax
• Prosper Australia
• Rent-seeking
• Scottish League for the Taxation of Land Values
• Single tax
• Tax reform
• Tax shift
• Value capture
• Wealth tax
• Windfall tax{{colend}}

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite journal|last=Coughlan|first=J. Anthony|date=1999|title=Land Value Taxation and Constitutional Uniformity|url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/gmlr7&id=271&div=&collection=|journal=George Mason Law Review|pages=261|volume= 7 |issue= 2}}

{{refend}}

• {{cite web|url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/392c33a6-211f-11e3-8aff-00144feab7de.html#axzz2g78MTFik|title = How a levy based on location values could be the perfect tax|date = 27 September 2013|access-date = 29 September 2013|website = FT.com|last = Somerset Webb|first = Merryn|author-link = Merryn Somerset Webb}}
• {{cite web|url = https://medium.com/@phila_31297/why-a-land-value-tax-is-inevitable-44e7e4571d33|title = Why a Land Value Tax is Inevitable|date = 29 September 2018}}

• [http://www.osr.nsw.gov.au/info/legislation/amendments/201006/land New South Wales Land Tax Management Act 1956 (Australia)]

{{Wikiquote}}

{{Real estate}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Land Value Tax}}

Category:Tax terms

Category:Windfall taxes