Re: Re: LAND TAXATION

["prakash chandrashekar" <prakash7uc@rediffmail.com>]

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------------- Original Message --------------
Yazad Jal <yazad@ccsindia.org> wrote:

prakash chandrashekar wrote:

> I believe that the fairest form of tax is a tax on the rent of lands,
> because this is a value which is not created by the individual. 

not true. just two examples to show how: i could buy barren land, and through
my efforts with fertilisers, proper agricultural methods, make the land more
fertile. 
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the land tax proposal seeks to tax UNIMPROVED land value. So, you can keep
land value created by your own effort. 

And much more importantly, urban site value is sought to be taxed. this
value created by society coming up around the site is value that can be
taxed without creating a disincentive to anyone. And logically it is value
which society has created and hence may be appropriated for its use.

------------------ 
i could buy an old building, renovate
it, -- i have added value to the building.
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good you did. Because in today's regime, people don't maintain their
buildings well because of the property tax they have to face ( a
maintenance tax ). Any doubt with this statement, you are welcome to see
for yourself the state of 20-25 year old buildings of bombay. If the only
property tax was the land tax, there would be no disincentive to maintain
or improve buildings.
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there are quite a few fallacies that churchill propagates, maybe another email
to decribe them.

yazad
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a statement by milton freidman, acknowledeged by many as the leading free
market economist.

"In my opinion, the least bad tax is the property tax on the unimproved
value of land, the Henry George argument .... "~Milton Friedman.

reference -http://amberpawlik.homestead.com/Geolibertarianism.html

please look at the above site, too.

regards
Prakash


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