How would LVT interact with the British planning system? The Campaign received a list of questions on this subject recently from a research student. The questions and our responses are published here as they are so often raised.

"Without special exemptions, land value taxation policy would cause loss of habitats such as ancient woodland heath etc in private ownership but not designated as sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs). It could also impair the protection of historic landscapes."

It is interesting how the arguments against LVT so often have to postulate impossible situations. Here is an example from the Guardian's Comment is Free discussion group, as part of its present campaign against tax avoidance. The point put in favour of LVT was...

"If taxation is tied to the holding of land titles, then it can not be avoided. Everyone uses land. Nor can land be hidden or removed to a tax haven. The tax payable needs to be a proportion of its annual rental value. If this reform was implemented, then tax cannot be avoided."

The response that came back was...
Oh absolutely staggeringly brilliant. So in your system a company that is based on intellectual property - say Google- could rent some premises in the Outer Hebrides and basically pay no tax at all. Marvelous.

This produced two separate counters

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