I'm talking about from a practical perspective including respecting domestic privacy, not theoretical bests.

It is difficult to determine the value of a particular piece of land, particularly if it hasn't been sold for a long time and won't anytime soon.

International trade can much easier be priced, and there is no (additional) privacy concern because it all has to be declared anyway.

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tomrod 4 days ago | parent [-]

Tariffs, unless hyperfocused, are dumb.

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mothballed 4 days ago | parent [-]

Indeed, but funding the level of government the constitution authorizes, which shouldn't cost more than a couple percent of GDP, their dumb-ness isn't enough to greatly distort the market and meanwhile there is very little additional overhead or intrusion vs other methods of taxation.

	▲	tomrod 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		Consumption taxes are very distortive.