12  Text of a leaflet published by the Henry George Foundation:

Most of our present taxes are objectionable not only because they take money from the taxpayer but because they do a lot of unnecessary incidental damage.

LVT is a method of raising public revenue by means of an annual tax on the rental value of a site, assessed as if it were undeveloped and unimproved - in other words, as if it were bare land. Each site would be valued on market evidence, in accordance with the optimum use of the land, within planning restrictions. Thus, land on the edge of a growing town, which was designated for agricultural use only, would be assessed at a much lower rate than similar land where building was permitted. Land such as parks, which are open freely to the public and where development is prohibited, would not be liable for tax at all, but the presence of such amenities would add immensely to the value of adjacent sites. The assessment of a particular site would be varied from time to time to take account of changing values, just as assessment for other kinds of tax is varied from time to time. LVT would be introduced gradually. Special provisions could be made for cases of hardship, just as they are at present with the Council Tax.

1 The value of a site is determined not by what the owner has done, but by the provisions of nature, by its location and by the community. Therefore, unlike most existing taxes, LVT does not collect value which the owner has created by his own efforts.

2 LVT cannot be evaded or avoided. The value of a piece of land is visible to everybody, and can easily be assessed by a valuer. Land cannot go to an offshore tax haven, or get lost in cyberspace.

3 LVT cannot be passed on in prices. Market forces make it impossible for a person producing goods on valuable land to charge more for them than a person producing similar goods on less valuable land.

4 LVT should replace many existing taxes, which will be to everybody’s benefit. Reduction, and perhaps eventually abolition, of many existing taxes on labour and production will stimulate new employment, and thereby reduce the need for welfare benefits.

5 LVT helps remove ‘inner city blight’ and benefits the environment. Great areas of inner cities are today undeveloped or underdeveloped because it suits the landowner to hold them in their present condition for speculative purposes. If the urban landowner is taxed on the value of his land whether he uses it or not, he will not be able to afford this kind of speculation, and will either develop it or sell it to someone else who can. This will bring derelict inner city areas into use, and will simultaneously reduce the pressure for public authorities to authorise development on Green Belt land.

6 Unlike nearly all other taxes, LVT not only yields revenue, but also acts positively, by bringing idle land into use. When LVT has been introduced, albeit only to a very limited extent - as in Denmark, various parts of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and in numerous cities in the United States - the results have always been beneficial.

7 The ‘boom bust’ cycles which damage everybody are caused largely by speculation in land values. These cycles would cease if land values were collected through LVT.

Unfortunately we do not know exactly, because Britain - unlike some countries - does not provide official figures of the value of land. Various unofficial studies have been made, however, and these leave no doubt that the revenue would be enormous - certainly comparable with the yield of income tax and VAT, our biggest existing taxes.

Tel: 020 7377 8885 Fax: 02073778686 e-mail: office@henrygeorgefoundation.org