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The interesting thing about land value/rents taxation is that it cannot be passed on to tenants. I think this covers that: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Georgism

The interesting thing about land value/rents taxation is that it cannot be passed on to tenants. I think this covers that: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Georgism http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Georgism Hopefully, the rents that are too damn high go to the tax collector instead of an income tax. There is the Henry George "theorem" which states that land rents are always equal to the cost of government. Curiously, I don't really know how this interacts with zoning. I suspect zoning would be completely different if there was no influence from land speculation. I don't hold Geotaxation to be utopian. It's just interesting. Might be an improvement.

AnthonyMouse 11y ago
> The interesting thing about land value/rents taxation is that it cannot be passed on to tenants. In theory. In practice the problem is that it gives governments a vested interest in rents remaining high to maintain their tax base, which makes them avoid policies that would lower rents (and thus the government's share thereof). But maintaining high rents is extremely regressive, regardless of whether the money goes to the government, because rents are paid like a poll tax. > There is the Henry George "theorem" which states that land rents are always equal to the cost of government. Things like that are weird because they have the potential to be "true" since a more prosperous country can afford to spend more on both government and housing, but then what is supposed to follow from that? > Curiously, I don't really know how this interacts with zoning. I suspect zoning would be completely different if there was no influence from land speculation. Well, it would turn the government into the land speculator, so they would be the ones trying to keep land values high and generate artificial scarcity.
- ArkyBeagle 11y ago
  I don't expect there's anything a government can do to manipulate the value of rents. SFAIK, the general case of county assessor's offices is that they're honest and transparent. If taxes are too high here, I can move. That sets a mechanism for keeping equilibrium in prices.
  - ytpete 11y ago
    > If taxes are too high here, I can move. That sets a mechanism for keeping equilibrium in prices. Couldn't you say the same thing about rent, under the current system? If rents are too high, people can move to Des Moines or wherever; that fact hasn't made many people feel ok about how high the rents are (because of course not all places you could live are equally desirable).
    - ArkyBeagle 11y ago
      Sure, you can say that. The hope is that rents taxes replace or at least offset taxes on productive activity instead of favoring land speculation. EDIT: slightly reworded.

AnthonyMouse 11y ago

> The interesting thing about land value/rents taxation is that it cannot be passed on to tenants. In theory. In practice the problem is that it gives governments a vested interest in rents remaining high to maintain their tax base, which makes them avoid policies that would lower rents (and thus the government's share thereof). But maintaining high rents is extremely regressive, regardless of whether the money goes to the government, because rents are paid like a poll tax. > There is the Henry George "theorem" which states that land rents are always equal to the cost of government. Things like that are weird because they have the potential to be "true" since a more prosperous country can afford to spend more on both government and housing, but then what is supposed to follow from that? > Curiously, I don't really know how this interacts with zoning. I suspect zoning would be completely different if there was no influence from land speculation. Well, it would turn the government into the land speculator, so they would be the ones trying to keep land values high and generate artificial scarcity.

ArkyBeagle 11y ago
I don't expect there's anything a government can do to manipulate the value of rents. SFAIK, the general case of county assessor's offices is that they're honest and transparent. If taxes are too high here, I can move. That sets a mechanism for keeping equilibrium in prices.
- ytpete 11y ago
  > If taxes are too high here, I can move. That sets a mechanism for keeping equilibrium in prices. Couldn't you say the same thing about rent, under the current system? If rents are too high, people can move to Des Moines or wherever; that fact hasn't made many people feel ok about how high the rents are (because of course not all places you could live are equally desirable).
  - ArkyBeagle 11y ago
    Sure, you can say that. The hope is that rents taxes replace or at least offset taxes on productive activity instead of favoring land speculation. EDIT: slightly reworded.