A land value tax (or site valuation tax) is a levy on the unimproved value of land. It is an ad valorem tax on land that disregards the value of buildings, personal property and other improvements. A land value tax (LVT) is different from other property taxes, because these are taxes on the whole value of real estate: the combination of land, buildings, and improvements to the site.
Although the efficiency of a land value tax has been established knowledge since Adam Smith, it was perhaps most famously promoted by Henry George. In his best selling work ‘’Progress and Poverty’’ (1879), George argued that the value of land was created by the community, and therefore its rent belonged to the community.
Land value taxes have been implemented in Taiwan (Republic of China), Hong Kong, Singapore, Russia and Estonia, as well as in some localities in the American state of Pennsylvania, the Australian state of New South Wales and Mexicali, in Mexico. The government of the Republic of Ireland is currently considering the introduction of an LVT, among other options for taxing property.
Read more about Land Value Tax: Economic Effects, Practical Issues, Land Value Tax Incentives, Ethics, Existing Tax Systems, Policy Interest Elsewhere
Famous quotes containing the words land and/or tax:
“We were uncertain whether the water floated the land, or the land held the water in its bosom. It was such a season, in short, as that in which one of our Concord poets sailed on its stream, and sung its quiet glories.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’”
—Bible: New Testament, Luke 18:13.