Tax Reform
A Land tax system is often criticised for asking for tax from people who may not have earned that money this year. This is treu but you have to remember that if a property is unable to earn someone alot of income then it's price will decrease. For example, if someone owned a house in the centre of Auckland then it might cost more than one in a small town simply for the fact that the Auckland house is closer to higher paying jobs and better amenities. If someone is living in a house which is valued at much more than they are able to pay in land taxes they would need to sell up and move to a more affordable house. Remember that each person receives their share of the total Land taxes collected nationwide from not only residential, but also commercial, industrial and farming lands. This means that your share of land taxes is going to be significantly higher than the land tax due on an average family home because you have also received the average land taxes on commercial, industrial and farming lands aswell. Land taxes act to rationalise land use to the most needed and appropriate use while still ensuring that everyone has access to the basic things they require in life - housing, food, clothing, and healthcare.
A Land tax would also cause a drop in land values hurting those with mortgages. This is an issue that can be managed by introducing the Land tax system slowly over a period of five years and also by compensating people for their losses with government money. Although there will be some small pain in the beginning to transition, the long-term result of a Shift to Land Taxes will be well worth the effort.
Land taxes are the most efficient form of tax. This is because when you tax an activity you generally discourage its occurance as people prefer not to pay the tax. This is why income taxes are accused of distorting business and worker activities in an effort to avoid paying tax. GST is widely known to be avoided by those who try to conduct activities in cash or wrongly distort sales and/or expense figures. Financial transactions taxes discourage financial transations, driving transactions towards barter, cash trades or internal transactions all in an effort to avoid the tax. A tax on land however would not affect the productive areas of the economy in the same way because land cannot be reduced. It must all be owned by someone and the only question is who owns it and what is the price. Tax evaders can attempt to sell land for a reduced price illegally but the land taxes will still be calculated on the market price of the land. So land tax is very hard to evade and does not effect business, workers, sales or transactions.