3 ms·

For those that cannot afford it an option to defer some amount of the taxes until sale is one common proposal. Myself I don’t favor this option and think if yo

by erentz 5y ago

For those that cannot afford it an option to defer some amount of the taxes until sale is one common proposal. Myself I don’t favor this option and think if you can’t afford the land tax on your property then you’re making very poor use of that land and the tax is working exactly as intended if it either encourages you to downsize to another place or redevelop your property into multiple units (for example). You can also take a loan on your property to pay the tax that is repaid from sale of the property when you do decide to move or your pass away. I don’t think people should get special favorable treatment just because they got somewhere first, it’s awfully discriminatory.

opportune 5y ago
Yeah, the mindset behind a (georgist, i.e. high) LVT is that land is a public good with an opportunity cost. It is a pigouvian tax against speculation, hoarding, and underutilization. Humans are sentimental creatures though and "grandma has to sell her home" is a powerful image. I think a good compromise, that would also allow Prop 13 to be phased out for good, is to allow primary residences below a certain value to deduct taxes against the home value up to the limit (ie defer payment until the person dies, then the estate settles the debt, most likely out of selling the home) and at that point not owe more. That way grandma never has to leave her home prematurely, society still captures the lost value of underutilized land somewhat, and there is no ridiculousness with commercial properties, inheritances, very wealthy people paying no taxes, etc.
- imtringued 5y ago
  For some reason when there is a bailout for everyone from the poorest grandma to the richest investors on the planet, people worry about grandma the most. We can always arrange a bailout for vulnerable people, that's not the problem but everyone who can afford the taxes insists that they should get low property taxes because grandma cant afford them.

by erentz 5y ago

opportune 5y ago

Yeah, the mindset behind a (georgist, i.e. high) LVT is that land is a public good with an opportunity cost. It is a pigouvian tax against speculation, hoarding, and underutilization. Humans are sentimental creatures though and "grandma has to sell her home" is a powerful image. I think a good compromise, that would also allow Prop 13 to be phased out for good, is to allow primary residences below a certain value to deduct taxes against the home value up to the limit (ie defer payment until the person dies, then the estate settles the debt, most likely out of selling the home) and at that point not owe more. That way grandma never has to leave her home prematurely, society still captures the lost value of underutilized land somewhat, and there is no ridiculousness with commercial properties, inheritances, very wealthy people paying no taxes, etc.

imtringued 5y ago
For some reason when there is a bailout for everyone from the poorest grandma to the richest investors on the planet, people worry about grandma the most. We can always arrange a bailout for vulnerable people, that's not the problem but everyone who can afford the taxes insists that they should get low property taxes because grandma cant afford them.