I'm not a huge fan of how deadweight loss is defined in the article:
> virtually all economists agree that land value tax has zero "deadweight loss"–a fancy word for a drag on the economy that makes certain activities no longer profitable
Property taxes tax the land + the building. Building taxes are complicated to assess. They require tax assessments, appraisers, tax code, accountants to compute depreciation schedules, etc. The deadweight loss of property taxes is the economic loss of having resources devoted to filling out property tax filings. Appraisers and accountants would do other productive economic activities if they didn't spend all their time filling out tax forms.
Property taxes also distort incentives. If you improve your property, then you pay more tax. Property taxes can discourage you from using your land to its highest and best use.
Land taxes offer the opposite incentives. They encourage you to make your property better.
Land taxes would arguably help a lot of the housing crises. Landowners have to pay a lot more taxes if they want to convert a lot with a single family home to a 4-plex. A land tax wouldn't impose an additional tax to the landowner for improving the value of their land.
> virtually all economists agree that land value tax has zero "deadweight loss"–a fancy word for a drag on the economy that makes certain activities no longer profitable
Property taxes tax the land + the building. Building taxes are complicated to assess. They require tax assessments, appraisers, tax code, accountants to compute depreciation schedules, etc. The deadweight loss of property taxes is the economic loss of having resources devoted to filling out property tax filings. Appraisers and accountants would do other productive economic activities if they didn't spend all their time filling out tax forms.
Property taxes also distort incentives. If you improve your property, then you pay more tax. Property taxes can discourage you from using your land to its highest and best use.
Land taxes offer the opposite incentives. They encourage you to make your property better.
Land taxes would arguably help a lot of the housing crises. Landowners have to pay a lot more taxes if they want to convert a lot with a single family home to a 4-plex. A land tax wouldn't impose an additional tax to the landowner for improving the value of their land.