Quotes and Endorsements

“The earth , therefore, and all things therein, are the general property of all mankind , from the immediate gift of the creator…. there is no foundation in nature or in natural law why a set of words upon parchment should convey the dominion of land.”

Wm Blackstone 1723-1780
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“Give me the ownership of all the land and I will move the earth? no, but I will do more. I will undertake to make slaves of all human beings on the face of it.”

Mark Twain (1835 – 1910)
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Poverty is the worst form of violence.

Gandhi 1869-1948
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A tax on ground-rents would not raise the rent of houses. It would fall altogether upon the owner of the ground-rent, who acts always as a monopolist, and exacts the greatest rent which can be got for the use of his ground.

Adam Smith 1720-1790
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Historic validation of land Value Taxation

• As long ago as 1776, the great Scottish economist and philoso­pher Adam Smith laid down four principles which he said a tax ought to satisfy:
• Taxpayers should pay in proportion to benefit received.
• Land is something which no human being has created. Anybody owning land derives benefit from that ownership, and the benefit he derives is propor­tional to the value of the land.
• The liability of a taxpayer should be certain, not arbi­trary.
• A taxpayer’s liability for LVT is related exclusively to the value of his land. The value ofa site can readily be assessed by any valuer.
• The tax should be levied in the way most convenient for the taxpayer.
• A regular tax of this kind can be collected in the form, and at the intervals, which suit the taxpayer.
• A tax should take as little as possible from the taxpayer in excess of what the State requires.
• Because the value of land is so easy and, cheap to assess, the cost of that assess­ment and subsequent collection is low by comparison with the revenue received.

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