?Taxing land and property is one of the most efficient and least distorting ways for governments to raise money. A pure land tax, one without regard to how land is used or what is built on it, is the best sort. Since the amount of land is fixed, taxing it cannot distort supply in the way that taxing work or saving might discourage effort or thrift. Instead a land tax encourages efficient land use. Property developers, for instance, would be less inclined to hoard undeveloped land if they had to pay an annual levy on it. Property taxes that include the value of buildings on land are less efficient, since they are, in effect, a tax on the investment in that property. Even so, they are less likely to affect people?s behaviour than income or employment taxes. A?study?by the OECD suggests that taxes on immovable property are the most growth-friendly of all major taxes.?
- from ?Levying the land?, The Economist, 29 Jun 2013 [hat-tip clive]
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