  This submission to the Irish Commission on Taxation and Welfare advocates the
introduction of a site value tax in Ireland. Ireland has high and volatile
property prices, constraining social and economic development. Site values are
the main driver of these phenomena. Taxing site values would reduce both the
level and volatility of property prices, and thus help to alleviate these
problems. Site value tax has many other beneficial features. For example, it
captures price gains due to the community and government rather than owners'
efforts and thus diminishes the incentive to buy land for speculative reasons.
Site value tax can be used to finance infrastructural investments, help
facilitate site assembly for development and as a support for the maintenance
of protected structures. Site value tax is also a tax on wealth.
