Land Value Property Tax Under Consideration
Several towns are almost coming to their senses about the land value tax.
How taxes are collected says a lot about how the State views its subjects. If you tax income, there will be less work. If you tax sales, there will be fewer things to buy. If you investments, there will be less capital to build on. If you tax construction, there will be less construction. When the state taxes human activity, it presumes the right to control our lives.
But if you tax land values, there will not be less land - it's not going anywhere.
By the way, thanks to Kevin for inviting me to participate here, which I will do fairly regularly. The bulk of my blogging will remain at Independent Country.
3 Comments:
One of the basic principles of Austrian Economics is that value is subject (in the past you supported Austrian Economics). It follows that the land values are also subjective. If government taxes land values, then who decides the value of the land? How do they do it? Why do I trust the “Internal Land Service” more than I trust the IRS?
Local government already taxes land values as part of their property tax assessment. This just means removing the improvements and construction aspect from that tax.
Being closer to the people, and often elected, local assessors can be more accountable to the people and aware of actual activity of land sales. In a lot of respects, it's like being a landlord - rent is charged based on the desirability of the spot.
Hmmm... Interesting concept. I'd never thought of it in the terms you use, James.
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