Posted: Apr 24, 2005 By: NULL

Comment: Tax Reform Idea:

The Land Tax, or "Single Tax" proposed by 19th century economist Henry
George.

NO income or sales tax, only the value of land is taxed.

Advantages:

1. Simple to define and enforce. The tax is x% of the assessed land value.
You can try to hide income, but you can't hide land.

2. Pro-growth. The marginal tax on both income and consumption is zero.

3. Progressive. The wealthy are disproportionate owners of land and will
therefore pay most of the taxes.

The last two points are an ideological win-win for conservatives and
liberals. The rich pay a lot of taxes but still have an incentive to get up
in the morning and go to work.

Henry George had a moral philosophy underlying his land tax. If you take a
parcel of land and build a farm or factory, the income from your productive
effort is rightfully yours. But since neither you nor any other person
"created" the raw land, profiting from simply owning land is "unearned
income" anf fair game for taxation. Think of it as paying rent to society.

Frederick Singer
Huntington Beach , CA