IN his Inside Track article ("Momentum is building in favour of a land tax", The Herald, June 30), Daniel Sanderson hopes that our politicians might be "a little braver this time round£ when it comes to solving the problem of local taxation.
At present we pay council tax in respect of the property in which we reside. The present system is not very fair in terms of ability to pay. A land tax would be a brave and sensible move.
As anyone who has done first year economics knows - all things flow from some land, some labour, some capital and some enterprise'. Thereafter "land'" is rarely, if ever, mentioned again in class. Likewise, land is rarely, if ever, mentioned in relation to taxation. All other things are taxed. Labour is taxed, we call it income tax; we pay taxes on any income from capital; we pay corporation tax on profits; we even pay tax on purchases, we call it VAT. Why is land not taxed?
Land is probably the most unequally distributed resource in our country. Yet a land tax has all the characteristics of a good and efficient tax, according to Adam Smith. A good tax should be easy and efficient to both pay and collect; it should have certainty (one should be in no doubt as to what one has to pay); lastly, it should be equitable (your payment should depend on how much land you hold).
There might even be an additional benefit from introducing such a tax. If all holders of land were required to register their holdings before the start of the new system, we could end up with a completed land register. Win, win.
Are our current politicians brave and sensible enough to undertake such a measure?
Catherine Gilchrist,
Jura Cottage,
Jamieson Street, Bowmore, Islay.
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