No one ever tries to refute our arguments about a land tax. Not seriously. Some people just agree, either because they do, or they don’t want an argument. A few get bored when the subject is mentioned. Some don’t want to know or say they can’t get their heads round it. Some don’t like the idea as they think it would hurt them.
The arguments are impossible to refute except...
LVT threat to heritage
If you participate in discussion groups such as the Guardian’s Comment is Free you will come across endless opportunities to present the case for LVT and you will be confronted endlessly with arguments against it. You have to defend the proposal against predictions that old widows will be thrown heartlessly from their homes; that England’s green and pleasant land will become a sea of...
Libertarian argument against LVT collapses
This comment turned up in a discussion group last week…
“Rothbard (a leading prophet of neo-Libertarianism) addressed LVT and its bad consequences very nicely
“Therefore, the market will no longer be able to insure that these locations will go to the most efficient bidders. Instead, everyone will rush to grab the best locations. A wild stampede will ensue for the choice downtown...
Is it wrong to tax imputed incomes?
One of the arguments being put against LVT is that is a tax on imputed incomes, not real ones. The point was wittily made in a letter in the FT a few days ago – “if LVT is a tax on imputed incomes”, it was asked, “could it be paid with an imputed cheque?”
Accepting this line of argument, all you could expect for your imputed payment would be imputed police and fire...
Dishonest principles
One of our supporters sent a copy of our comments on the report of the Treasury Committee Tax Review Inquiry back to the Treasury Committee. It was answered by the House of Commons Committee Assistant as follows:
“The Committee did not give an opinion either way on whether land value tax was worth further consideration. Instead it noted that radical tax changes had been mooted, and drew attention...
Why LVT cannot be passed on
The answer to this question is very simple if you imagine yourself in the situation of a landlord.
As a landlord, I already charge as much as I can obtain for my property. I may decide to charge a bit below top rate so as to avoid it being empty, or I may stick out for the last penny which means I must accept that the property will be empty for 10% of the time. Either way, I am getting as much...
What are the prospects for LVT in Britain?
The past few months have seen a flurry of activity which has probably helped to bring LVT more public attention more than for several decades. Notably, it was espoused by one of the candidates for the Labour leadership and there were three articles in the Guardian.
The first two articles were vague to the point that it was unclear what was being proposed. The third of the articles, by Mark Braund,...
More objections to LVT
These by email from someone called Richard Davis, of a company called Praetorian Properties, so not exactly a disinterested party. One would have thought that a property professional would have a better grasp of the implication of LVT, but seemingly not in this case. I tried to reply but the email was returned.
Why do we bother?
There was another article in the Guardian in support of LVT yesterday. This produced a torrent of the usual fatuous objections, which are well worth reading. Such is the void in understanding that it is clear that we have decades of work to do. Sometimes I wonder if it is worth bothering. If the British want to live in a country where the wealth divide is getting ever greater, to the point that...
We have been warned
Yesterday’s Guardian carried an article promoting LVT, written by prospective Labour leader Andy Burnham. It completely failed to anticipate the barrage of flak that was going to be thrown up. The responses should be a warning to all of us campaigning for LVT. We need to present the case better, which means that we all needs to understand it and be able to defend it against the kind of absurd...