Hugh's Brain

Land Value Tax (LVT)

3 min read

Land Value Tax (LVT)

Tax on the unimproved value of land — not buildings, not labor, not capital. The “single tax” idea from Henry George. Floyd’s core economic reform position alongside UBI.

What It Is

A tax assessed on the value of land itself, excluding any buildings or improvements. The key insight from Henry George (1879): land value is created by the community (location, infrastructure, population density) — not by the landowner’s effort. Therefore taxing land captures community-created value without distorting productive behavior.

Why LVT Works (Floyd’s Framework)

  • Unlike taxes on income or capital: LVT cannot be “avoided” by reducing economic activity. You can’t make land disappear.
  • Reduces speculation: Holding idle land becomes expensive; incentivizes productive use
  • Automatically captures community-created wealth (the “commons dividend”)
  • Eliminates land hoarding — the source of the 18.6-year cycle’s crashes
  • Progressive in practice: Land wealth is concentrated at the top; LVT shifts burden from labor to rent-seeking

[Source: User, Floyd profile; Readwise highlights on LVT content]

Key Evidence From Floyd’s Reading

  • “Unlike the value of a company, the price of land is not based on the innovation, leadership skills or hard work of its owners. Its value is based overwhelmingly on the actions of people living and working nearby.” [Source: Readwise highlight, LVT content]
  • “A land value tax would increase burdens on underutilized properties in areas with additional development capacity.” — incentivizes higher-density use [Source: Readwise highlight]
  • “Using a land value tax instead of a general property tax would primarily shift tax burdens within property classes, not between them. It would reduce tax burdens on multi-unit housing and increase the tax burden on underutilized properties.” [Source: Readwise highlight]

Connection to CommonWealth

The CommonWealth / UBI Works policy platform combines LVT (capturing shared land value) with UBI (distributing that value universally). This is the Georgist “single tax” → “citizens dividend” pipeline. Floyd’s advocacy work through UBI Works is advancing both simultaneously.

Weekly LVT check-ins with Brett, Liam, and Floyd — active organizing. Victoria LVT Meet-Up with Dr. Francis Peddle also held. [Source: Google Calendar, 2024-2026]

Key People

  • evelyn-forget — UBI academic; LVT adjacent through guaranteed income research
  • robin-boadway — fiscal economist; supports redistribution via land taxation
  • Dr. Francis Peddle — Victoria LVT advocate (met 2024-2026)
  • Brett — LVT organizing contact (appears in weekly check-ins)

Historical Lineage

  • Henry George (1839-1897) — “Progress and Poverty” (1879), the foundational text
  • Fred Harrison — British heir to Georgist thought; land cycle historian
  • Phil Anderson — PSE; traces economic cycles directly to land speculation
  • New Physiocratic League — “through the platform of the New Physiocratic League, the tax burden falls on land and the work of nature” [Source: Readwise highlight, book_id=29781064]

Timeline

  • 2026 | Active organizing: weekly LVT check-ins (Floyd/Liam/Brett) [Source: Google Calendar]

  • 2024 | Victoria LVT Meet-Up with Dr. Francis Peddle [Source: Google Calendar]

  • 2024 | CommonWealth Speaker Series: Rahul Basu — Common Wealth Canada [Source: Google Calendar]

  • 2026-04-13 | Referenced in vancouver-land-value-tax — Vancouver LVT movement and policy proposals

  • 2026-04-13 | Referenced in singapore-leasehold-land-reversion — Singapore leasehold as practical Georgist implementation

  • 2026-04-13 | Referenced in land-trap-mike-bird — Mike Bird’s book on land as financial trap

Graph View

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