If there is anything as inevitable as death and taxes, it's "wealthy people complaining about taxes." Every year, the usual articles make the rounds about how all these wealthy people are moving out of California because they're sad about their taxes, and every year it doesn't significantly happen. I'm starting to think the "moving out of California" meme is just a media re-run that the wealthy get together and fund every year, and then it's back to sipping their wine in their mansions in Beverly Hills and Atherton.

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klipt 9 hours ago | parent [-]

California actually has very low property taxes.

Which according to economists is the wrong way around: it's better to have taxes on land (because it doesn't discourage land existing - land is fixed) than to have taxes on work income (which on the margin, discourages working)

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SilverbeardUnix 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Land value tax would solve most problems in California.

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zdragnar 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I wonder what percentage of people in California would go bankrupt if LVT were passed implemented there.

Anyone, residential or commercial, with a mortgage would simultaneously find a massive amount of their net value erased while stuck with huge monthly payments on top of massively increased tax bills, unable to sell assuming the higher taxes drive down property prices.

	▲	tick_tock_tick 7 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Places like AZ and Florida already solved this issue. If there is hardship the property tax accumulates as a lien on the property to be claimed when the property is sold.
	▲	klipt 7 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		You could certainly phase in an implementation over 20-30 years to give the economy time to adjust. Just interpolate the taxes. In a state with fully implemented LVT, you would expect most people in dense cities to be living in multilevel housing that makes more efficient use of land. Eg if your condo building has 5 floors, you're splitting your land tax 5 ways. Sprawling single level houses would be a relative luxury.
	▲	griffzhowl 7 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Isn't it easy to implement a threshold so it's only effective on holdings above a certain value, or exemptions for primary abode or something along these lines? It's not difficult conceptually to come up with schemes to tax wealth which doesn't unduly harm non-wealthy individuals (however you would define that level for these purposes). It's just that for one reason or another these schemes are not implemented, and one of those reasons is (plausibly) the political influence of wealthy individuals

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aeternum 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Problem is land value tax makes gentrification issues even worse, it's the exact opposite of prop13. Rich people move in around you or a highrise gets built and your tax rate increases extremely quickly.

Nimbyism would become even more extreme.

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klooney 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Or absolutely break the the Bay area

	▲	SilverbeardUnix 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Same thing.

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throwmeaway222 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Very low property tax RATE, but probably the most property tax payments because everything is 1m+ for a shit house.

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abirch 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Property taxes usually pay for schools and there can be lines for CA schools.

	▲	jerlam 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Depends on the area. In the wealthy SF Bay Area, the schools are closing due to lack of enrollment. SF is "the most childless major city". Schools are drastically underfunded due to Prop 13 and the state kicks in a lot of money to make up for the difference.

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Spooky23 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

LVT is the online forum dream.

Land is worth money because of improvements or detrimental choices. Manhattan and Staten Island have dramatically different valuations because of what’s there.

California needs a sane taxation system that doesn’t allow squatters to pay nothing for property taxes, but harshly punishes new homeowners.

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triceratops 6 hours ago | parent [-]

> Land is worth money because of improvements or detrimental choices

It's worth money because of what's around the land. Otherwise identical houses in different locations would sell for the same price.

	▲	Spooky23 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Only in LVT fantasy land. Improvements represent applications of labor and capital that produce value.