Should we change our name?

This is a question that comes up from time to time. We have never been satisfied with the name we have inherited. Land value taxation (LVT) is not a tax but a user charge. The principle is that people pay for what they get and get what they pay for, so there is no free riding. Our proposal, in short, is for an annual ad valorem tax on the annual rental value of land. It is not a one-off payment, or a sales tax or a transfer tax or a tax on the selling price of land. Not the least of the problems is that all sorts of taxes have been put forward and implemented, under the label of land value tax, that do not remotely resemble what we are campaigning for.

So far, none of the other suggestions put forward do much to clarify what we are advocating. Some of them have connotations that raise fresh difficulties. Amongst the best are “location benefit levy”, and “national land rent charge”, but they are cumbersome in comparison and need further explanation. If you have any ideas please let us know. And how much would a change of name help our cause anyway?