Land Value Taxation - An International Prospect?

This paper reports the progress on continuing research projects commissioned by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy (USA) in which the authors are engaged. Earlier stages of this research, recording past efforts in Britain to establish land value taxation (LVT) as a vehicle for raising local government revenues and as an instrument of land policy, were followed by recommendations for specific proposals for introducing legislation and practice as compatible as possible with the existing planning system and the British GovernmentÌs fiscal and taxation policies. This paper reviews the findings to date and widens the scope of the current examination beyond Britain into the European Union and further. Accordingly this paper addresses the potential for extending land value taxation within the expanding European Union, possibly as part of the mooted harmonisation ofPan-European taxes, which would bear comparison with extant methods in other parts of the world. Thus the hypothesis of this paper is that it is now timely and appropriate to contemplate an introduction of LVT into Britain, Europe and beyond. In support, various current pressures can be identified as accumulating for a change in taxation, particularly towards a more equitable distribution of the property tax burden and thus a fairer collection of Government revenues. Furthermore, as has been pointed out by Robertson (1998, 1999) and others, there is a present and growing movement towards Ïtaxation shiftó, that is to say, a movement to reduce taxes away from enterprise, production and income sources towards the Ïcost of using the environmentó. This, in turn, is connected to the whole theme of Ïsustainability of the environmentó and Ïsustainable developmentó arguments. But it is also relevant that Robertson has already recommended a whole raft of policies to include eco-tax reform and land value taxation, among the connected parts of a larger fiscal package. This paper sets these issues into context with the aspirations of property professions towards a commonality of standards in seeking fairness and equity in taxation matters and presents conclusions as to future prospects for land value taxation in Britain.