Comment by vannevar
15 hours ago
Indeed. When I see these discussions, I am always struck by two things:
1) that many people don't seem to realize that a tax on land value is not novel, but is one of the oldest ways to fund government, with tons of experience behind it (past and present); and
2) that whatever the problems associated with figuring out land value, they pale in comparison to figuring out an individual's real income, which obviously didn't stop us from taxing that.
Right. So frustrating to hear people speak of LVT as some pie in the sky concept when it's the most original and basic form of tax, for centuries, worldwide.
It's equivalent to a modern day person talking about how cooking food over an open fire is never going to work.
The valuation issue is also a non-issue. You just have people self-assess the value, but any stated value is an option for the state to buy at that price. Also an ancient and well known mechanism.