The Single Tax

The Single Tax is a proposal to replace other taxes with a tax on the unimproved value of land. It is associated with Henry George’s argument that land rent should fund public revenue.

Land Value Tax: A tax on the value of land, excluding buildings and other improvements. The Single Tax is a comprehensive proposal built around this tax base.
Henry George: An American political economist and reformer best known for advocating a tax on land value. His book Progress and Poverty gave the Single Tax its most influential formulation.
Property Tax: A tax on real estate that commonly includes both land and buildings. Unlike the Single Tax, conventional property taxes often penalize improvements.
Pittsburgh Land Value Tax: A municipal tax arrangement in Pittsburgh that historically taxed land at a higher rate than buildings. It illustrates a partial shift toward the Single Tax’s preference for taxing land over improvements.
Land Speculation: The purchase or holding of land chiefly in expectation of future price increases. A recurring land levy is intended to make withholding valuable sites less attractive.
Land Rent: Income attributable to control of land, rather than to labor or capital improvements. George argued that this rent could provide public revenue without taxing production.
Progress and Poverty: Henry George’s 1879 book arguing that land rents could fund public needs and address poverty. This work presented the case that became central to the Single Tax movement.
Tax Incidence: The study of who ultimately bears the economic burden of a tax, regardless of who pays it legally. Incidence analysis tests whether landowners, rather than tenants or consumers, bear the levy.
Pennsylvania Land Value Tax: A local tax system used by some Pennsylvania municipalities that separates land and building assessments. These systems show practical versions of the proposal without replacing every other tax.
Urban Sprawl: The outward spread of low-density development around cities. Supporters expect taxing land value to encourage development of well-located sites.

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