房地产管理中部和东欧新兴民主国家房地产税的发展文献翻译.docx

房地产管理中部和东欧新兴民主国家房地产税的发展文献翻译.docx

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房地产管理中部和东欧新兴民主国家房地产税的发展文献翻译

原文：

ThedevelopmentofpropertytaxationinthenewdemocraciesofCentralandEasternEurope

Themainpurposeofthispaperistoinvestigateissuesrelatingtotheroleoflandandbuildingtaxesasamechanismtoprovideanautonomousrevenuesourceforthenewlyestablishedlocalauthorities.AsMalmeandYoungman（1997）suggest,thereisaneedtoseekfundsforstrengtheninglocalgovernment,withcountriesneedingtoadjusttheirtaxsystemstoaccountforemergingprivatemarketswithinlandandbuildings.RealestatetaxeshavebeendesignatedaslocalrevenuesourcesinmanycountriesinCentralandEasternEurope,includingArmenia,Estonia,Latvia,Hungary,CzechRepublic,SlovakRepublic,Bulgaria,Rumania,andtheRussianFederation.However,itshouldberecognisedthatthelevelsofrevenuecurrentlybeingraisedfromproperty-basedtaxesisverysmallandthereisonlyalimitedpotentialtoincreasetheyield.BertaudandRenaud（1994）suggestthatmanycountrieshaveinstigatedpropertyvaluation/taxationsystemsforthepurelyopportunisticaimofincreasinglocalrevenues,theyarguethatduetoitsimmovablenature,landissimplyseenasaneasytargetforfundraising.However,thisrathergeneralisticstatementneedstobeplacedinperspective.Realpropertytaxationisalegitimatesourceofpotentialrevenueforvarioustiersofgovernment.AsKelly（1994）suggests,propertytaxationisperhapsthemostuniversally-usedrevenuesourceforlocalgovernmentsthroughouttheworld.Itisthereforeoflittlesurprisethatthenewdemocracieshavebeeninvestigatingandimplementingvarioustypesofproperty-basedtaxes.

Theimplementationofalandedpropertytaxfromalmostfirstprinciplesrequirestheconsiderationofseveraldiversebutinterrelatedfactors.Kelly（1994）hassuggested,andrightlyso,thatifpropertytaxreformistobesuccessfulitmustbecomprehensiveinapplicationandnotjustfocusonanyoneelement.Thispapertakesthedebateonpropertytaxreformtothelevelwhichdemonstratestheintegralrelationshipsofthekeycomponentsoflocalgovernmentfinance,theroleoflocalauthorities,landinformationsystems,applicationofcadastres,thepropertymarket,valuationandassessment.Thepaperthenlooksattheexperiencesoftwocountries,namely,ArmeniaandtheCzechRepublicintheirendearvourstoundertakecomprehensivepropertytaxreform.

Localgovernmentstructures

Thearrangementofthepublicsectorinanycountryishighlyinfluencebythecountry’spastdevelopment,historictraditionsreligiousandethnicdifferences,customs,andbyeconomicandpoliticalcircumstancesMostcountriesintransitionhavealreadyintroducedaprogrammeofdecentralizationwhichhasshiftedtheresponsibilityfromcentralgovernmenttolocalgovernment,andasaresulthasgiventhelocalgovernmentsafairlywidediscretionintermsoffiscalresponsibilitiesresultinginreducedintergovernmentaltransfers（AlmandBuckley,1994）.AsBirdandWallich（1994）comment,politicaldecentralisationinallcountriesoftheregionhasbeenparalleledtosomeextentbythedecentralisationoffiscalresponsibilities.Generallyspeaking,countriestendtoassignmoreexpenditurefunctionstolocalgovernmentsthancanbefinancefromtherevenuesourcesallocatedtothosegovernments.Thismismatchoffunctionsandfinanceisoftenreferredtoas“verticalimbalance”,withtheresultthatlocalgovernmentbecomesmoredependentonhigherlevelsofcentralgovernmentgrant.Thisisclearlyaproblemwithseveralofthetransitioncountries,wherethecentreisdivestingitselftolocalgovernmentofcertainresponsibilities,i.e.movingtheproblemdownward.AsWallich（1992）commenteditwaspushingthedeficitdowninanattempttoshifttheburdenofresponsibility,bothintermsofserviceprovisionandbearingthecostofsuchprovision.Someformoflocalgovernmenthadexistedinmostofthetransitioneconomiesunderthesocialistregime（Kelly,1994）.However,thefiscalsystemwasinessenceunitaryinpractice,withlocalgovernmentshavingarolewhichwasessentiallynomorethananadministrativeunitofthecentreandhavinglittle,ifany,independentfiscalorlegislativeresponsibilities.

Revenuebaseoptions

Hollis（1993）suggeststhatthedesignofthesystemoflocalgovernmentfinanceshouldreflecttheextenttowhichacountrywishestohaveacentralisedorlocalistlocalgovernment.Insimpleterms,ifacountrywantsacentralisedformoflocalgovernmentitshouldbelargelycentrallyfundedbygrantsandashareofstatetaxes.Ontheotherhand,ifalocalistformofgovernmentisdesired,itshouldbefundedthroughautonomouslocally-basedrevenuesources.Aslocalgovernmentbeginstomature,itisimportanttorecognisetherelationshipbetweenlocalgovernmentandcentralgovernmentandhowthisissupportedthroughanefficientsystemoffinancing.Withinthedevelopmentofafinancesystem,anumberoffactorsneedtobetakenintoaccount,includingtheextenttowhichthesystemsarereadilyunderstoodbycentralgovernment,localgovernmentandtheelectorate;theneedtopromoteefficiencythroughsystemsthatdonotdistortpersonaleconomicdecisionmaking;theneedforthesystemtogeneratesufficientincometofunditsshareoflocalgovernmentexpenditure;theextenttowhichthesystemisadministrativelypractical;theneedforthesystemtobefairandequitablebetweenbothindividualsandregionsandtheneedforstabilitytoenablelocalauthoritiestoplantheuseofresourcesovertime.

Thepriorityofallthecountriesintransitionhasbeentoestablishaneffectivelocalgovernmentrevenuestructurecapableofsustainingthenewly-formedlocalgovernments（BirdandWallich,1994）.Togivecredibilitytotheirstatusasautonomousentitieswithelectorateresponsibilities,localgovernmentsneedtohaveastrongsourceofdiscretionaryrevenues.AsKelly（1994）contends,fromaninternationalperspectivethereisawidediversityinthestructureandeffectivenessoflocalrevenuesystems.However,theoryandpracticewouldindicatethatpropertytaxesanduserchargesrepresentthemainsourcesforastablesourceoflocallyderivedrevenues（BahlandLinn,1992）.

Landinformationsystems.

Overthelastcoupleofdecades,thetermlandinformationsystem（LIS）（seeFigure1）hasincreasinglybeenusedworldwidetodescribethemanagementofspatialdataofallformsinacontextofgovernmentadministration.ThereisaclearneedforthenewdemocraciestoestablishaLISwhichwouldintegrateanefficientlandmarketsystem,landregistrationandalandtransfersystem.

Landpolicy,inessencerelatestotheequitabledistributionofabasicresource,i.e.land,andwouldpermitagreatertransparencyinthelandadministrationprocess.Landpolicyshouldideallyemanatefrompoliticalagreementarrivedatthroughanopendemocraticprocess.Theresultingpolicyshouldthenprovideageneralframeworkwithinwhichlandlawsandregulationsareformulated.TheLISwouldsupportandassisttheeventualimplementationofthesepolicies.Whilelandtenurecanbedefinedastheprocessesandrelationshipsassociatedwithlandandbuildingrights（Williamson,1994）,thisincludesthenatureofexistinglandrights,thebalancebetweenstateandprivaterightsandthelandallocationandreallocationsystem.Clearly,thisaspectisoffundamentalimportanceandisofdirectrelevancewithinthecontextofpropertytaxation.Oneofthemajorchallengesfacingthenewly-createddemocraciesistheareaoflandadministrationandlandreform.Inadditiontheyhavebeenfacedwiththeproblemofhowtobegintheprocessesofestablishingpropertymarketsandtomaintainthemomentumofreform.CadastralreformCadastralsystemsinoneformoranotherhavebeencreatedinmostdevelopedanddevelopingcountriesduringthelastcoupleofcenturies.Theconceptofacadastralsysteminanycountryreflectsthehistorical,culturalandlegalframeworkofthatcountryorjurisdiction.Theyhaverepresentedthecentralcomponentinestablishingalandtenuresystem,andlandownershipsystem,insupportinglandmarketsandsupportingefficientlandadministrationingeneral.Awidelyaccepteddefinitionofcadastre,accordingtoWilliamson（1994,p.3）,is:

Acadastreisacompleteandup-to-dateofficialregisterorinventoryoflandparcelsinanystateorjurisdictioncontaininginformationabouttheparcelsregardingownership,valuation,locationarea,landuseandusuallybuildingsorstructuresthereon.

WiththedissolutionoftheSovietUnion,thereisagreaturgencyfromthenewly-independentcountriestopromotetheprivatisationoflandownershipwithinaframeworkoflandreform.InJuly1991,theUnitedNationsCentreforHumanSettlements（HABITAT）publishedthestatement,“FutureCooperationwithTransitionCountriesofCentralandEasternEurope”fromwhichthefollowingextractistaken（1991,p.51）:

Taxationonproperty,however,canbeasignificantsourceofincomeforpublicauthoritieswithwhichtofinancetheirownoperationsandtoprovideessentialservices.Apartfromthephilosophicalobstaclestotheacceptanceoftheprinciplesoftheprivateownershipoflandandhousingwhichstilllingeroninsomecountries,thepracticalobstaclestotheestablishmentofatransparentsystemofpropertyownershiparemany;beginningwiththeestablishmentofasystemofpropertyregistryandtheceding（orsale）ofcommunallandtoindividuals.

Apropertytaxsystemmustbeabletoidentifyandlinktaxablesubjects（taxpayers）andtaxableobjects.Generallyspeaking,thetaxsystemcanbeorganisedintwobroadways:

first,byregisteringpropertyasdeclaredbytaxablesubjects,i.