Comment - Land Value Tax Campaign

Denmark’s Justice Party re-launched

Written on 6 December 2012. Posted in Politics.

The Justice Party has been re-launched in Denmark. The party’s policies are uncompromisingly Georgist. Britain’s electoral system means that such a party would get nowhere in Britain. The only value in fighting elections would be to get publicity. However, given the recent experience of elections where the candidates have declared their support for LVT, the publicity that can be gained...

Amazon’s Corporation Tax avoidance

Written on 3 December 2012. Posted in Taxation.

Labour MP Jackie Ashley, writing in the Guardian today, complains about the tax avoidance antics of firms like Amazon. SOMETHING MUST BE DONE, she says. That something appears to be getting the tax authorities to act in a more aggressive way. But since this tax avoidance is legal, there is nothing that HMRC can do about it under present legislation – which Labour had thirteen years to do...

High speed rail – who will benefit?

Written on 23 November 2012. Posted in Public Transport.

Pro-HS2 research group Greengauge 21 says it thinks the rest of the country will benefit more than London from the high-speed link.

Tax avoidance – Labour wants your opinion

Written on 23 November 2012. Posted in Taxation.

The Labour Party has climbed onto the bandwagon of concern about tax avoidance by issuing what it calls a “Challenge Paper” which tells us that “Labour believes addressing tax avoidance at both an individual and corporate level must be a priority. At home, this means making it plain to the Crown Dependencies that we will expect them to observe the letter and the spirit of the law...

Euro not dead yet

Written on 22 November 2012. Posted in Economics.

Despite predictions of its imminent demise several months ago, the Euro struggles on. Some people are surprised, but those with an interest in its survival have successfully managed to keep kicking the can down the road. How much longer can it go on? Last week, statistics from Eurostat confirmed that the Eurozone remains in recession. The day before that, millions of people across Europe, but predominantly...

UK property tax pickle

Written on 20 November 2012. Posted in Taxation.

Between them, Chancellor George Osborne and Local Government minister Eric Pickles, have missed the opportunity to reform Britain’s property tax and made a mess of things instead. We reported previously that the government had decided to defer the UBR revaluation for two years, until 2017. The FT now reports that “Colliers International, the property agency – which has described...

Tax avoidance humbug

Written on 16 November 2012. Posted in Taxation.

More tax avoidance humbug from Polly Toynbee in the Guardian. The comments are generally not much better, falling into two categories. Those in the first express the faux-libertarian view that all taxation is theft. The alternative view is indignation, accompanied by a call for greater toughness. It seems not to be appreciated that if an action is immoral but legal, which by definition, is the case...

MPs grill tax avoidance rogues

Written on 13 November 2012. Posted in Taxation.

Representatives from the big trans-national tax avoiders – Google, Amazon and Starbucks, had a grilling by MPs yesterday. But the rogues missed a trick. These companies’ obligations to the British government begin and end with the value of the infrastructure that they enjoy in the UK. That’s it. This is fully reflected in the land value element of the rents they pay on the properties...

Monopoly is theft

Written on 11 November 2012. Posted in History.

Article in Harper’s Magazine on the history of the game.

Land Value Tax Bill published

Written on 8 November 2012. Posted in Taxation.

The Bill sponsored by Green MP for Brighton Caroline Lucas has now been published. The citation is“A Bill to require the Secretary of State to commission a programme of research into the merits of replacing the Council Tax and Non-domestic rates in England with an annual levy on the unimproved value of all land, including transitional arrangements; to report to Parliament within 12 months...

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