Land Value Taxation and the Built Environment

An informative video from Earthsharing Canada on how LVT works in favour of development and against land speculation.

More than half the population of Victoria, Australia, used to live in municipalities which rated on land value only (Site Value Rating).  Now, however, every municipal council has managed to ignore all the evidence favouring Site Value Rating and base their rates on Capital Improved Values (CIV); two councils remain on Net Annual Value which, like CIV, also taxes buildings on the land.

Speculators in Sydney and Brisbane have been unable to get rid of Site Value Rating altogether as they have in Victoria, but they continue to try.  They’ve managed to reduce the efficacy of land value taxation by increasing the numbers of properties on ‘minimum rates’, thereby distorting the rating base and making the many properties on ‘minimum rates’ pay something more akin to a poll tax.  Of course, people on ‘minimum rates’ in Sydney and Brisbane effectively subsidise  those ratepayers who have more valuable lands. Incredible!







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