Madam, - Konrad Dechant (September 1st) has raised the important topic of land value taxation (LVT) and listed a number of benefits. To these can be added the following:
1. The bureaucracy needed to operate the present cumbersome taxation system could be much reduced from its present level. The complexities of income tax, inheritance tax, capital gains tax and VAT are well known. By contrast, LVT is straightforward.
2. LVT gives no opportunity for tax evasion. Land cannot be hidden or removed to a tax haven.
3. LVT prevents the hoarding of land. Speculation in land is the chief cause of the current high cost of land sites. The site on which a Dublin property lies now comprises over half its cost. The so-called "high cost of housing" is really the high cost of land.
Finally, LVT is not new. It is an already established system of taxation. local government variants, known as site value rating, are accepted practice in Denmark and Australia, for example. It could just as easily be introduced in Ireland. - Yours, etc.,
DAVID SOWBY,
Dublin 18.