Land Value Tax

About Land Value Tax

The land value tax, advocated by economist Henry George in his 1879 book Progress and Poverty, taxes only the unimproved value of land. George argued that land value is created by the community and should be taxed to fund public services. The land value tax cannot be passed on to tenants because land supply is fixed. It does not discourage investment or production, unlike taxes on labor and capital. Several jurisdictions have implemented variants of the land value tax. Pennsylvania allows split rate property taxation, taxing land at higher rates than buildings. Singapore and Hong Kong use land leasing systems that capture land value for public benefit. Economists across the political spectrum support land value taxation, but political implementation has been limited.