What is Land Value Taxation
Most of the things we see around us were made by man. The buildings we live in, the vehicles we use, the clothes we wear and even most of the food we eat are set in their present form by human effort.
Land is completely different.
No human being has made land, and the value of a piece of land derives from such things as natural fertility, mineral deposits and its position in relation to public utilities, natural harbours, communications and population. Different pieces of land vary enormously in their value. An acre of land in the middle of a town, for example, may be worth many thousands of times as much as an acre of remote moorland. Therefore, a tax on land values is a fair tax, because the person who owns land derives benefit from something which he or she has not made.
The big idea
First off, the value of every piece of land in this country should be assessed. By 'land' we mean the site alone, not counting any improvements on the site. Thus, the value of any buildings, crops, drainage or anything else which people have put on, or done to, the site would be ignored.
Then, after the land has been valued, a tax should be fixed on the basis of that value. Of course this wouldn't mean any more overall taxation, because the introduction of Land Value Taxation would permit other taxes to be reduced or, in some cases, to be abolished altogether.
Economist Jerry Jones has written a series of articles on land value tax and its implementation:
1 : Lie of the land
How the soil under our feet could fund services
2 : Working the land
How to capture land value for public benefit
3 : Valuing the land
How to get the measure of our land’s price
4 : Getting practical
Land-tax reform poses a range of problems
5 : Taxing question
Getting Britain moving with a fairer tax regime
6 : Harrisburg
The US example pointing the way
7 : The simple way to end land hoarding
Stabilising the
supply of land
8 : What should replace the flawed council tax?
Alternatives to this severely regressive tax