Taxation for Low Cost Wood Fiber*

Abstract . If forest industry taxation is to be put on a sound economic basis, the Federal Government, the largest land owner, should pay the same taxes as any other landowner, so that the social and economic effects of taxation are realized. Specialists report that the form of the property tax preferred for the taxation of the property of the forest industry, under most circumstances, is land value taxation, not the property tax based on income realized at some point In the future which presumed the continued existence of virgin forests. This paper recognizes that the forest industry now is based on harvests of tree crops and proposes a further development of the land value taxation principle in the form of a forest tax composed of a land value tax combined with a tax on tree growth which increases as growth as a percentage of volume growth decreases with the tree's increasing age.     

Alternative Policies for Preserving Farm and Open Areas: Analysis and Evaluation of Available Options

A bstract . Rapid urban growth disrupts land use patterns on the urban-rural fringe , increasing development pressure on nearby farm and open lands. Many public agencies have attempted to moderate these development pressures through intervention in the local land market in order to preserve remaining open areas. There are essentially five ways that governmental units can act to preserve farm and open lands: public purchase of these lands; restrictive zoning laws ; public purchase of the development rights to open lands; programs of transferable development rights, and preferential assessment property tax programs. Each of these methods imposes burdens on different groups and creates winners and losers among property owners, taypayers and others. This paper analyzes the economic impacts of these open space preservation programs and evaluates their effectiveness in achieving their goals. None of the programs evaluated is judged to be perfect in preserving open space, but the public purchase of development rights is seen to be an equitable second-best solution.     

Development Rights and the Differential Assessment of Agricultural Land: Fractional Valuation of Farmland is Ineffective for Preserving Open Space and Subsidizes Speculation

Abstract . The relative fiscal efficacy of using differential assessment as a means of preserving agricultural land is examined. A simple model of land use and land rent determination is developed and tested. An implication is that differential assessment merely delays or retards, but does not prevent, the conversion of land to developed uses. Differential assessment is viewed as a tax expenditure, or special tax reduction, that in essence leases development rights, Landowners are also shown to be overcompensated for the development rights implicitly acquired by the public sector. The fee simple purchase of development rights or regulatory control over the use of development rights can be employed to preserve farm land at a lower fiscal cost.     

A. R. Prest's Investigation of the Case for Site Value Taxation

A bstract . Urban site value taxation —an application to one of the several types of land and natural resources of Henry George's proposals for recapturing for the public's benefit the value its presence and activities accord to land—has been investigated by a leading British fiscal economist, A. R. Prest. He finds that the taxation of urban land is badly in need of reform. Considering the options available, he declares: "With site value rating (land value taxation ) there surely is a very strong case for further experimentation." Professor Prest surveys the whole literature of the question in a strictly objective fashion.     

地下空间开发视角下的开发区土地集约利用——以皖江城市带为例

以地下空间开发为视角,用文献资料法、实证法研究了开发区土地集约利用的创新方式。从工程技术和技术经济的角度验证了开发区地下空间开发的可行性。认为开发区地下空间开发的主要障碍因素是产权归属不清、产权定价无据及缺乏规划编制;应从确权、定价、规划、融资、财税等方面着手加快促进开发区地下空间的开发。     

TAXING LAND VALUE IS JUST ANOTHER QUESTIONABLE TAX

There has recently been much public debate about the introduction of a land value tax. To its supporters such a tax promises to achieve several goals simultaneously. On closer inspection, however, the arguments in favour of land value taxation are not convincing. On the contrary, the economic foundations on which proponents of this tax rely are dubious, and there are significant legal, moral and practical problems with land value taxation.     

Resolving the Economic Puzzle: Two Reviews by Stephan Barton and Fred Foldvary Re‐solving the Economic Puzzle by Walter Rybeck London: Shepheard‐Walwyn, 2011, pp.xv, 238, $29.95. ISBN 978‐0‐856‐32819

Walter Rybeck makes the case for land value taxation, explains how he came to understand its importance, and describes his involvement in the Henry George movement in the United States over the last 50 years. While the book demonstrates the virtues of land value taxation, it also illustrates some of the limitations of contemporary Georgism.     

The Economic Effects (Neutrality) of Taxes on Land

A bstract A recent review of the economic effects of land taxation by Steven Bourassa created the misleading impression that a tax on land will have pro-development or non-neutral effects where there are non pecuniary returns from land or where there are capital market imperfections preventing developers from obtaining all the land that they want for development This note argues that a tax on land value is generally neutral, and that this will be the case whether or not there are non pecuniary returns and capital market imperfections, provided that the existence and extent of the imperfections are independent of the tax     

Harry Gunnison Brown's Advocacy

A bstract . Harry Gunnison Brown's fifty plus years of active advocacy of land value taxation are reviewed in the light of two recent articles. One indicates a waning interest and even understanding of Brown's chosen cause while the other demonstrates quite the opposite: the persistence and relevance of land value taxation. Brown's strategies are examined, drawing on his correspondence as well as his publications. It is suggested that evaluation of Brown's success or failure is a moot question in the sense that there was no one with whom to compare him.     

土地发展权转让、市场机制与中国土地利用规制创新

本文通过比较美国土地发展权转让制度和中国土地用途管制制度及耕地指标交易等地方创新实践,指出在中国土地用途管制制度创新中,应借鉴美国土地发展权转让的经验,引入市场机制,重点关注土地发展权的界定、配置及价值确定、发展权市场的建立及发展权转让过程中的监督问题,对各方面的效应进行充分的分析及权衡取舍,努力形成更为合理、完善的新制度。     

Site Value Taxation on Australia

A bstract . Site value taxation is neither a new nor a strictly western concept. Taxing land based on location was proposed in India around 300 B.C. François Quesnay, David Ricardo and John Stuart Mill were among the economists favoring land taxes but Henry George is credited with bringing it about in several areas, notably Australia. That subcontinent has experimented with the land tax on the national as well as the state and local levels but it is presently used only on the latter two. Empirical tests of the tax instrument are few. Pollock and Shoup (1977) forecast that eliminating the tax on improvements would increase investment levels by about 25 per cent in the long run. Hutchinson (1963) found great differences in house values and stocks. This study evaluates the effects of site value taxation on the basis of multivariate regression analysis. It finds strong evidence that, where improvements are relieved of taxation and more revenues are obtained from land values, the average value of housing is significantly higher and the value of the housing stock substantially larger.     

OPTIMAL PROPERTY TAXATION IN CALIFORNIA: Is Greater Reliance on Land Values Feasible and Desirable?

Legal changes to Proposition 13 and fiscal imbalance provide, for the first time since 1978, the environment for serious consideration of restructuring property taxation in California. The background of the current situation is reviewed, and as a first approach to determining the optimal property tax system, Henry George's a priori case for taxing land is noted. Studies in the new public finance, especially optimal taxation theory and applications - for example, general equilibrium modeling in policy analysis - provide encouraging though limited support for greater reliance on site value taxation.     

On Modernizing Local Public Finance

Abstract . Urban economists tend to agree that land value taxation is both equitable and efficient. Then why won't American urban areas reform their property taxes into a land value tax? One explanation may be that the climate of opinion is that the taxation of wealth is wrong. This may be another of the legacies of the Great Depression. In the 20 years preceding, levels of property taxation increased very substantially; this was associated with rapid urbanization and big increases in public expenditures. Even with the collapse of property values urban governments extended expenditures and hence taxes on real property—as they did again with inflation in the 1970s. But in the 70s residents were predominantly owner-occupants—a result of counter depression policy. Their hostility to taxing unrealized capital gains is the obstacle advocates of land value taxation have to overcome.     

Neighborhood Revitalization and New Life: A Land Value Taxation Approach

When a neighborhood declines, the poor get poorer, crime rises, and those who can leave the area. The tax base shrinks, so the rates paid by those least able to pay increase. The prevailing system of a low tax on land values leads to land speculation and private land banking, assuring that the landowner can hold out for a very high price for a very long time. A higher tax on land values (coupled with reduction in building taxes) creates an incentive to sell that land or do something with it rather than waiting. In cities that use land‐value taxes, real‐estate markets start to work again and neighborhoods recover. Clairton, Pennsylvania's adoption of a land‐value‐taxation system demonstrates the neighborhood revitalization to which it leads, as owner‐occupied residences and multi‐family units saw a relief in their tax burden. In contrast, vacant properties' contribution to the city budget tripled, providing the resources to pay for the education of Clairton's children and liberate working and middle‐class families from the bonds of labor and capital taxation.     

Suburban Encroachment on the Old North 40: The Search for Effective Measures to Preserve Agricultural Land

A bstract . Since 1956, more than 40 states have passed some form of legislation to preserve agricultural land. These statutes or constitutional amendments invoke a variety of economic and/or legal strategies to obtain their objectives, but the most common strategy is that of the differential tax. None of the various strategies is entirely effective, however, although land resource allocation problems have prompted some economists to reexamine the merits of land value taxation. A survey of pertinent literature on land value taxation is examined in an effort to determine whether a system based on single tax principles might offer a simpler, more equitable, and therefore preferable solution to the problem of land resource allocation according to criteria believed to foster environmental conservation or social goals.     

TAXATION OF ECONOMIC RENTS

Economic rents have long been identified as an efficient tax base. In addition, the recent literature documents that rent income is highly concentrated and that rents are quickly increasing. Rent taxation thus seems attractive for reasons of both efficiency and equity. Nevertheless, rent taxation remains a marginal topic in research and policy making. In a systematic review of the neoclassical literature on different rent types, we find that some types of rents reflect inefficiencies and should thus be minimized, while others reward investments and should be supported in line with social welfare. What remains for taxation are land rents, one of the few true scarcity rents. Land rents have significant potential to improve the efficiency of the tax system. We then begin to develop a comprehensive theory of land rent taxation by identifying relevant efficiency and equity effects. The interaction of many of these effects remains unexplored, which might explain policymakers' hesitation in using land taxes to date.     

Site Value Taxation in a Declining City

A bstract . The relationship is analyzed between the economic decline of a central city and the likelihood that a site value tax will be politically acceptable. Public choice and land use models are combined to generate a scenario of land use changes and changes in improvements to land ratios which determine whether a specific property owner will gain or lose from a revenue-neutral site value tax. A case study is presented which substantiates many of the effects suggested by the model. In general, private and public sector responses to a city's decline result in an atmosphere that is relatively hostile to site value taxation.     

ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS ON LVT

This article rebuts the arguments against land value taxation expressed by Oliver Marc Hartwich in the December 2006 'Economic Viewpoints'. This rebuttal argues that taxing land as a surplus is both feasible and consistent with modern economic concepts such as marginal productivity. Entrepreneurship is enhanced rather than hampered by eliminating taxes on wages and enterprise and shifting public revenue to the economic rent of land.     

Henry George and Europe

A bstract . The basic ideas of Henry George , 19th century American economist and social philosopher, were not novel in Denmark , which had a tradition of land value taxation and free trade. But they had special appeal for its smallholder farmers. They demanded that George's principles be applied more fully, getting all tax revenues from the land 's unimproved value, so that taxes on buildings, personal property and wages could be abolished. Viggo Ullman 's Danish-Norwegian translation of Progress and Poverty won the commitment of folk school movement leaders and the intelligentsia. In 1903 large landowners gained control of the Liberal Party and proceeded to abolish the traditional land tax, producer of up to 50 percent of State revenues. The Radical Liberals split and took over, to some extent carrying out George's taxation principles. In 1919 a Georgist party, the "Retsforbundet" was founded; it won the balance of power in 1957. But lack of finances and organizing ability and growing voter apathy ended its progress.     

Public Spending, Land Taxes and Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis of the Adequacy of Land as a Tax Base

Abstract . Site value taxation is often cited as desirable on efficiency grounds, but is all too often dismissed for alleged lack of revenue potential. This paper empirically tests the revenue adequacy of site value taxation. Revenue adequacy in this study is defined as the ability of the tax base to keep pace with community expenditure needs. The paper concludes that communities with higher than average rates of capital growth and with a relatively constrained land area will find land taxes when subsituted for present property taxes, quite adequate for future as well as present needs.