An International Survey Of Taxes On Land And Buildings

Rev. ed. of: Taxes on immovable property. c1983. Includes bibliographical references.

Survey of taxes on immovable property. Reviews the major policy issues raised in the taxation of land and buildings and compares the main provision of property tax systems in 15 OECD Member countries.

This book details the context within which policy decisions and objectives for the property tax system are made in the transitional economies of Central and Eastern Europe. It shows how these policy decisions evolve as a part of the transitional reforms still in process. This book offers the chance to review the experiences of transitional countries in initiating and implementing fiscal instruments during a decade of enormous transformations. The research for the case studies, included in this book, was sponsored by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

'. . . fine compilation of essays dealing with international land and property taxation issues. . . . the book is well researched and readable in presenting the tax systems. . . The book would be more than appropriate as additional reading for a master's level class in taxation. It could supplement an international tax class, or be used in a state and local tax class to present contrasts and complexities of the issue in other countries.' – Malichi van Tassell Tor, The Journal of the American Taxation Association '. . . this is quite an achievement. Thanks to the nature of the case studies and the contributing authors the volume is inherently international in its scope and should appeal to practitioners, teachers, and students interested in land and property taxation, international economic development, and land and real-estate studies.' – Scott Orford, Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 'I have found the book International Handbook of Land and Property Taxation a very meaningful and enlightening book to read. The editors Bird and Slack have developed a theoretically sound framework, backed by economic conceptions in order to attempt a comprehensive treatment on tax administration on land and property. Speci?cally and yet more broadly, they have to their credit managed to throw light of sufficient depth on key issues that include the tax base and rate, the tax burden and the tax policy decision makers. The international dimension is just as imperative to consider and the editors have effectively succeeded to render an in-depth treatment in this regard. This imperative is also a unique and important contribution to empirical real estate studies within the tax discipline, and the editors should be highly commended in this effort. I am very encouraged with the academic rigor of this book publication. . .' – David Ho, Journal of Property Investment and Finance Taxes on land and property exist all over the world in many forms and are an important source of finance for local governments. The extent to which local governments have control over property taxes is often an important determinant of their ability to make autonomous expenditure decisions. This comprehensive Handbook explores case studies of land and property taxation in 25 countries (five in each of five regions – OECD, central and eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America), and focuses on the potential contributions of the property tax to the revenues of urban and rural governments and to more efficient land use. Introductory chapters highlight the diversity in the application of land and property taxes among the countries. Major policy alternatives with respect to taxing land and property are discussed, including the choice of tax base, exemptions, methods of determining the tax base, tax rates, differential treatment of different classes of property (such as farms, residences, commercial properties), and the process of tax administration. Other taxes levied on land, such as land transfer taxes, development charges and unearned increment taxes, are also reviewed, as is recent experience with property tax reform in a number of countries. This major reference work will provide a valuable resource and necessary addition to the libraries of government officials, municipal associations, property assessors, international agencies, teachers and students of public finance.

'The chapters in this book explore in detail the choices regarding both the structure and administration of the property tax, drawing on the extensive knowledge the authors have acquired in studying property taxes around the world. The chapters provide a wide-ranging treatment of the design choices and administrative tasks, both in terms of the breadth of design options and administrative tasks covered and the depth of the discussion. The authors describe the range of design choices, discuss the associated issues and the advantages and disadvantages for each, and present the criteria to help choose among the options.’ From the book’s Foreword by David L. Sjoquist, Professor of Economics and Dan E. Sweat Scholar Chair in Educational and Community Policy, Georgia State University Property taxation is a key element in providing a solid foundation and a stable funding source for basic public services. Developing and implementing a property tax system is a complex task. This complexity is compounded by the diversity of legal, cultural and historical contexts of policymakers and tax administrators. The World Development Report (1999-2000), Entering the 21st Century puts fiscal decentralization at the top of the development agenda. This makes local taxation - and especially the property tax option - of critical importance to both tax and land policy, as well as the broader development agenda. A Primer on Property Tax: Administration and Policy provides the reader with an analysis of issues surrounding property tax, including economics, law, public finance, decentralisation, valuation, GIS and property tax reform. A key strength of the book lies in the vast international experience of the authors and the book will provide for the first time material which is topical, cutting-edge and highly relevant to many of the disciplines involved in property taxation. The authors examine the criteria applied to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of property tax, discuss the main valuation methods and the economic principles underpinning them and review the legal and administrative aspects of property tax worldwide.

This study of the strategic, policy and operational characteristics of Land Value Taxation is a unique and original contribution to Elston knowledge. McCluskey and Franzsen provide a clear and detailed synthesis of existing Land Value Taxation systems and address the perceived advantages and disadvantages of such systems. The implications of this work, based on a two-tier analysis of selected countries, will be critical in terms of informing policy makers when contemplating reviews of existing Land Value Taxation systems or its possible introduction. The empirical research underpinning this work has attempted to concisely provide the role of land value systems within the selected case study countries. The work has clearly identified a number of challenges being faced by those countries and jurisdictions that currently utilise land value tax systems. Given these challenges this book is timely in that it provides detailed expositions of property tax systems that are undergoing significant change and reform.

Land Tax in Australia demonstrates how land tax operates and is administered across State and local governments in Australia. International expert Vincent Mangioni reviews the current status and emerging trends in these taxes in Australia and compares them with the UK, USA, Canada, Denmark and New Zealand. Using substantial original research, the author sets out what Australia must do through practice and policy to reform and bring this tax into the 21st Century. The need for fiscal reform and strengthening the finances of Australia’s sub-national government is long overdue. These reforms aim to minimise the taxpayer revolts encountered in previous attempts at land tax reform, while improving tax effort in line with other advanced OECD countries. This book provides an essential resource for all property professionals working in development, valuation, law, investment, as well as accountants, tax economists and government administrators. It is highly recommended for students on property, taxation, legal and social science courses.

First published in 1999, this volume aims to add to the existing body of knowledge with regard to application of ad valorem property taxation in various countries. To this end, the present volume has essentially focused on updating, revising and extending the coverage of material included in the earlier book, ‘Comparative Property Tax Systems’. The contributors discuss issues including property tax in Singapore, Ireland, Pakistan, Poland and Cyprus.