The New Student's Reference Work/Single Tax

Sin′gle Tax. A theory of taxation which proposes to abolish all taxes that fall upon property gained through industry and economy, substituting a single tax on land equal to its rental value exclusive of improvements. Thus the “unearned increment,” as represented by the increasing value of land, would accrue to the benefit of the community as a whole and not to the private owner as at present. It would probably result in state ownership. This form of taxation was proposed and earnestly advocated by Henry George, who presented his argument in Progress and Poverty in 1879, and in his New York City mayoralty campaigns in 1886 and 1897. The Single-Tax National League of the United States, in a national conference in New York City, 1890, adopted a platform drafted by a committee of which Mr. George was chairman. Since the death of Mr. George in 1897 the movement has lost in adherents and in political influence. The theory has gained world-wide prominence. Tom L. Johnson, Mayor of Cleveland, and Ex-Governor Garvin of Rhode Island are politically successful single-taxers. The party in the United States has acted with the Democrats and in England with the Liberals. There they hold office in many cities and claim that their adherents control Glasgow; but on the Continent they have barely gained a foothold. The single-taxers now demand a separate assessment of personal property, land and improvements on land and that local political units be authorized to place a tax upon land-values and to free personal property from taxation.

The arguments in favor of the single tax are based upon the two principles of equity and convenience. First, the right of private ownership is given by labor only, and, as land in no way is a product of man's labor, it should be equally shared by all; the increase in the value of land depends upon the development of the community, and therefore the increment should belong to the community rather than to the individual. Second, land can be easily assessed and always guarantees payment of taxes. The weight of such a tax will, it is claimed, be equal upon all and will not bear upon production and industry. The tax would be assessed upon land according to its value, and would discourage holding land for speculation, since it must pay in proportion to value rather than income. It would tend to equalize the distribution of wealth, since the natural increase in the value of land would go to the community, and, finally, tend to a large increase of social wealth.

The objections come from those who believe in private ownership of land and from Socialists. The former hold (1) that the landowners have put their industry into the land, even if they have not produced it; (2) that single tax would not produce sufficient revenue; and (3) that the sense of private ownership of land has been the “keystone of society.” Socialists hold that both land and capital should be the property of society; that capital is not the product of the labor of any individual or of the few; and that, therefore, single tax would be only a half-solution and one that would not benefit society. See George, Henry, and Socialism.