土地增值税值得转变吗外文翻译Word文档格式.docx

土地增值税值得转变吗外文翻译Word文档格式.docx

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landvaluetax:

worththetransition

landtax:

abetterway

LandValueTaxationisanannualtaxonthemarketrentalvalueofland.Itwouldbeleviedasafixedrate,Muellbauersuggests0.5%inchaperthree.Ittaxesthegivenvalueoftheland,notthedevelopmentthathasoccurredonit,anddoessowhetherornotthelandhasbeensold.Ithas,therefore,anumberofadvantagesoverotherformsoftaxationandaddressesanumberoftheconcernsraisedobove,especiallyincentives,equityandeconomicefficiency.

Asanannualchargeontherentalvalueoftheland,LVTwouldnotbeataxontransactionandthereforedevelopment.Asoutlinedabove,notonlywouldthisconflictlesswithgovernmentpolicytodeliveranincreaseintherateofhousebuilding,itcouldactivelypromoteitbyprovidingincentivesforlocalanthoritiestoencouragedevelopment.Anannualtaxonthemarketrentalvalueoftheland-leviedregardlessofthelanduseordevelopmentonit-wouldfurtherpromotethere-useofbrownfieldlandbecauseavacantsitewouldstillincuranannualcharge.Indeed,someargueitcouldalsopromotemoresustainablepatternsofdevelopmentbyencouragingbusinessestolocateinlessprosperousregionsasthemarketvalueoflandwouldbelowercomparedtomoreprosperousregions（LVTCampaign,2002）.

LVTalsohasthebenefitofcapturingtheincreaseinprivatewealththataccurethroughpublicinvestment.Asanannualfixedrate,revenueswouldriseastheland’smarketvalue（andthereforetaxbase）increase.Intheory,therefore,thereitcouldprovideanautomaticrevenuestreamtohelpfundinfrastructureprojects.

Thereistheneedforsomecaution,however.Formsoflandtaxationhavebeentriedbefore.AsTable1outlines,therehavebeenfourattemptssinceWorldWarTwo.TheseprevioustaxeshaveaimedtocapturewindfallgainsfromboththegrantingofplanningpermissionandalsointhecaseoftheDevelopmentLandTax,fromdevelopmentitself.Manyreasonshavebeenadvancedfortheirfailure.Somecomplainoftheircomplexityandthefactthatnoneofthemweregiventimetobed-in（ConnellanandLichfield,2000）.Othersalsopointtothefactthatdevelopersandlandowernersoftenwaitedforachangeofgovernment（usuallyfromLabourtoConservative）astherewaswidespreadoppositionamongstthisgroupandwithinParliament（Barker,2003）.Again,theLVTadvocates’argumenthereisthattaxingdevelopmentisinappropriate.

Table1:

PastUKExamplesofformsofLandTaxationintheUK

Tax

Levy

Yearsofoperation

DevelopmentLandTax

100%ofthevalueupliftinlandvalueduetothegrantingofplanningpermission.

1947-1953

BettermentLevy

40%,duetorisethroughtimetoencourageearlysale,againdesignedtocapturevalueupliftCaptialGainsTaxwasalsointroducedin1967tocaptureincreasesintheesistingusevalueoflandonly.

1967-1971

DevelopmentGainsTax

Aninterimtaxonthecaptialgainsderivedfromthedisposaloflandandbuildingswithdevelopmentvalueorpotential.

1974

Taxeddevelopmentgain–i.e.thedifferencebetweenthenetproceedsafterdisposalofdevelopmentandeirherthecurrentusevalueoflandorthecostoflandacquisition（whicheverwashigher）.

1976-1985

Source:

adaptedfromConnellanandLichfield（2000）

Indeed,advocatesoftenpointtoDenmarkandNewZealandasexampleswhereLVThasworked,withbothintrouducingquiteradicalschemesin19thCentury.However,bothcountrieshaveremovedtheirmajorformsofLVTandretainlessradicalpropertytaxation（Andelson,2000）.DespitetheseandtheUK’ssetbacksLVTshouldnotnecessarilybedismissed.AnumberofothercountriesuseformsofLVTaspartoftheirfiscalframework-SouthAfica,someCaribbeanstatesandWesternCanada,forexample.SlightlydifferentsystemsoperateinHongKongandSingaporewhereallandmostland,respectively,ispublicyownedandthereforerentflowsdirectlytothestate.

Radicalreform,notsuddenreform

AlloftheseargumentspointtotheneedforreformofhowpropertyistaxedinBritain.SimplyrevaluinghomesandintroducingaPlanning-gainsupplementwillnotpreventtheseproblemsfromrecurning.Butradicalreformdoesnotmeansuddenreform,andthepoliticalandlogisticalbarrierstoLVTmakeitadistantgoalatbest.TomakeLVTachievable,wemustplanhowtogetthere.

Firstly,thecurrenttinkeringshouldbepubliclyacknowledgedasasteppingstone,notadestination.Simplybyannouncinginwhichdirectionitwishestotravel,thegovernmenthasthepowertofocusdebateandengagethethoughtsandexperiencesofacademicsandprofessionals.Itisclearfromthepreviousattemptsatlandtaxationthatbulidingacross-partypoliticalconsensusisalsoimportant.Ippr’srecentcross-partyCommissiononSustainableDevelopmentdidexactlythis,arguing:

alandvaluetaxcouldwellbeausefultoolfordeliveringsustainabledevelopment,aslongasanyfuturereformrecognisestwofundamentalfactors.First,newdevelopmentmustbeincentived.Second,extraresourcesarerequiredtomeethousingneedswithintheSouthEast.（SouthEastCommission,2005:

55）.

Secondly,thedetailsofupcomingreformshouldbedesignedwithamoreambitiousgoalinmind.Returningtotheproblemsdescribedatthestartofthisintroductiontellsuswhatchangesareneeded.

Tocreateanautomaticstabiliserforthehousingmarket,propertytaxesmustrespondbettertodifferencesovertime,betweenregions,andbetweenproperties.Makingrevaluationanannualprocessandcreatingmorebandswouldgosomewaytoachievingthis.

Tocapturesomeoftheprivateprofitfrompublicinfrastructureinvestment,therelationshipbetweencentralandlocalgovernmentwillhavetobeaddressed.Asalreadystatedabove,thisperennialissueisunlikelytoberesolvedwiththepublicationoftheLyonsInquiry.Thismayactuallybeagoodthing.Itseemsfarmoresensibletostartfromaquestionofwhatlocalgovernmentisfor,andthenhowshoulditbefinanced,ratherthanthepoliticalfire-fightingthatLyonsisengagedwith.Atatimewhenlocalauthoritiesarebeingencouragedtobringforwardhousinggrowthandplayabiggerroleineconomicdevelopment,itwouldseemsensiblethattheyhavefiscalmechanismstoenablethis.Reassessingtheroleofequalisationgrantsandidentifyingwayslocalauthoritiescanbettercapturethegainsfromdevelopmentwouldseemsensiblehere.

ThePlannnig-gainSupplement,proposedbyBarker（2004）andlikelytobeadoptedbythegovernment,establishestheprinciplethatsomeincreasesinvaluearisefrompublicaction,ratherthanprivate,andthatitisthereforelegitimateforittobeusedforthepublicgood.Thisprinciplemustbearticulated.PGSshouldbeusedasa“wedgeissue”,expandingthespaceinwhichtheideaisaccepted（see,forexampleAkerlof2005）,andmakingiteasiertoapplyitmorewidely.ThegovernmentmustthereforebaseitsargumentsforaPGSfirmlyandpubliclyonprinciples,ratherthanthepragmaticneedforfunds.

Finally,inthelongerterm,achangeinthetaxsystempresentsanopportunitytoironoutthearbitraryjumpsinstampduty.Simplychanging“slad”structure,sothathigherrateswouldapplyonlytotheadditionalpoundoverathreshold,wouldimposeaconsiderablecosttotheexchequer.Everyhouseover$120000wouldpay$1200lesstax,everyhouseover$250000wouldpay$6200less,andover$500000,$11200less.Attemptingtorecoverthisrevenuethroughanewtop-ratewouldprovepoliticallydifficult,particularlyasLabourhasalreadyincreasedthetopratebythreepercentagepoints.Anewsystementirely,suchasLVT,wouldprovideanopportunitytoironoutthejumpswhilstretainingfiscalneutrality.

Theredoesnotseemtobethepoliticalappetiteforsignificantreformofpropertytaxation.Yetitisclearthatpropertytaxationdoesnotcurrentlyefficientlyorequitablypromotegovernmentobjectives.2005isanimportantyearintheon-goingLyonsInquiryshouldnotservetocloseoffdebateonmoreprofoundreformofpropertytaxation.Thisisnotacallforarevolutionintaxation.WearenotwhatAndelson（2000:

xix）hastermed“whole-hoggers”,wedonotbelievethatLVTis“thesovereignpathtosocialjustice”.Rather,thereisaroleforaLVTwithinabroaderfiscalframework.Thechaptersthatfollowoffersomepositivesuggestions.

Couldlandtaxwork

SinceLloydGeorge,therehavebeenseveralabortiveattemptstotaxthewindfallgainsfromplanningpermission.ThestandardtextontheUKtaxsystem,oneofwhoseauthorsisnowtheGovernoroftheBankofEngland,insiststhat“theunderlyingintellectualargumentforseekingtotaxeconomicrentretainsitsforce”（KayandKing1990,P.179）.Since1947,landvalueintheUKhasdependedonitsplanningstatus.Ifafieldiszonedforagriculture,itisworthafewthousandpoundsperhectare.Ifitiszonedforbusiness,itmaybeworthmillionsofpoundsperhectare.Landvaluetaxationisefficient（becauseitdoesnotdistorttheincentivestodevelopland）andequitable（becauseitreturnssomeoftheeconomicrenttothepeoplewhocreatedit,namelythelocalauthorityanditselectores）.AsKayandKingexplain（p.181）:

Supposetheawardofplanningpermissionincreasesthevalueofaplotoflandfrom$5000to$1million.Theneveniftheresultinggainweretaxedat90%,thedevelopmentwouldstillbebetteroffbyalmost$100000usingthelandforhousingthanretainingitforagriculturalpurposes.Substantialincentivestobringprojectsforwardwouldremain.

Therearetwomainobjections:

theexpectationthatthewouldnotbepermanent,andthecostsofassessment.Propertyinterestshavealwaysseenoffpastattemptsatlandtaxation.Thishappenednotonlyin1909and1914,butalso,asBarker（2003,Box7.3）notes,in1947,1967,1974,and1985.Oneachoccasion,theydi