> the fact that you aren't currently using the land for anything doesn't mean someone else couldn't use it for something extremely valuable That (speculative)

> the fact that you aren't currently using the land for anything doesn't mean someone else couldn't use it for something extremely valuable That (speculative) value is based on how they propose to use the land. In other words, their improvements. That acre of dirt in the middle of the financial district might as well not exist, in economic terms, until someone actually builds something on it or otherwise starts using it to satisfy human needs or wants. Put another way, say that acre of land is on the other side of an impassable barrier. It's exactly the same land, but no one can get to it to make use of it. What is its value now? The value comes from how the land is used, not the land itself. If you're proposing to base the tax on what others would be willing to pay for the land (the market value) then this is no longer a land value tax but rather a property tax.