What is LVT?
Ferne Park - click the house image for more information about its tax avoiding owner.
Land Value Tax is:
an annual: the rate is set each year and the tax is collected each year,
nationally determined: the rate is set nationally not locally (*),
nationally collected: LVT is collected by HMRC, not by 300+ councils,
percentage tax: the rate (e.g. 0.7%) is the same everywhere,
paid by the freeholder: not by tenants, lessees or “occupiers”,
on the open market value: value is what someone would pay for it, (**)
of all land: every square inch, everywhere, no matter who holds it,
with no exceptions: there are no exceptions, for anyone, anywhere.
* Land Value Tax is a general purpose tax and can raise whatever is required to do whatever. The initial proposal is that LVT raises the same amount that all Local Authorities require to provide all the services we need. LVT therefore initially replaces all taxes on property, including Council Tax.
** all land has value even if that value is zero because it can never be sold. E.g. roads.
Land makes up over 60% of our national wealth (£7 trillion out of £12 trillion).
We own it through “the crown”.
We control its use through planning.
We should all benefit from it.
Simple, fair and impossible to avoid
Simple
LVT is easy to understand - a percentage tax on the value of land.
The value of land depends on where it is and what it can be used for.
Fair
LVT can replace unfair taxes like Council Tax.
The LVT rate is the same everywhere: x% in Gateshead, x% in Surrey.
Those with the most, contribute the most.
Impossible to avoid
Tax evasion and avoidance cost us, as a society, over £35 billion every year.
What is £35 billion equivalent to - in one year!
Note: the cost of primary schools and medical centres varies depending on size etc. but the above is an average estimate.
In one year, the £35 billion lost through tax evasion and avoidance could pay to build over 8,000 primary care medical centres (doctor’s surgeries) or could buy nearly 400 F-35B fighter-bomber aircraft from the USA (depending on your priorities).
An entire industry has grown up of tax avoidance specialists (lawyers and accountants) many of whom become multi-millionaires by taking a cut of the dodgy schemes they promote.
LVT is impossible to avoid because:
It has no exceptions, no special cases, no tax breaks - not for anyone, anywhere.
Land is visible, it can’t be hidden and it can’t be moved to a tax haven.
It is paid by the freeholder, not by tenants.
We know the freeholder - it is recorded on the Title held by the Land Registry.
It doesn’t matter what the freeholder is: person, company, trust, whatever.
It doesn’t matter where the freeholder is: UK, tax haven, Jersey, USA, Switzerland, wherever.
The freeholder has to pay the LVT.
HMRC doesn’t need to chase the freeholder round the world or to employ forensic accountants to examine impenetrable trails of company registrations.
Failure to pay results in a gentle reminder.
Continuing failure to pay results in a restriction being placed on the Title recorded by the Land Registry.
This means the property cannot be sold or disposed of without written permission of HMRC.
HMRC will not remove the restriction until the LVT bill has been settled along with punitive interest.
If the bill becomes higher than the value of the property it will be sold to recover the LVT. The freeholder will lose the property.
You can try to run from LVT, but you can’t escape.
The cost of enforcing LVT is almost zero!
This is an example of a Land Registry Title showing a restriction added by HMRC.
Why do we need it?
Because:
our democracy is in crisis.
people have lost trust in politics, politicians and “the system”.
less than 60% of the electorate bothered to vote in 2024.
8 out of 10 of the electorate did not vote for the Labour government.
we have the most unfair distribution of wealth in Europe.
4.3 million children live in poverty - 32% of all children.
14.3 million people live in poverty - 21% of all adults.
there are 2,800 foodbanks in the UK used by 3.12 million people.
Council Tax is grossly unfair and universally hated.
politicians choose austerity rather than improving the lives of people.
the rise of scapegoatism and populist nationalism leads to great unpleasantness.
We all have the right to the same services, and the same standards, no matter where we live.
Land Value Tax shows everyone that politicians care because it is simple to understand, totally fair (those with the most, contribute the most) and impossible to avoid (you can’t hide land).
LVT begins to redistribute wealth - because those with the most, pay the most - but many politicians still refuse to accept that:
you can’t redistribute wealth without redistributing wealth
and they live in fear of the powerful, the wealthy, the media (owned by the wealthy) and the nouveau riche who will do everything to hang on to their wealth by avoiding tax.
LVT and austerity
“Austerity” is not forced onto politicians, there is no “Big Economic God In The Sky” telling them what to do. There is no one to blame for their negative choices.
Austerity is a conscious and deliberate political choice:
not to invest in the economy.
not to make people’s live better
not to do anything about the list shown above.
not to rectify the unfair distribution of wealth in our country.
to look at the economy in the wrong way.
to side with powerful, the rich and their media.
to make the 1% even richer.
We (society, the government) are the largest employer and investor in the country. “We” are the public sector.
How many companies in the private sector rely, directly or indirectly, on public sector spending? The author comes from near Derby where the two major employers rely on public sector spending. Alstom (a French multi-national) makes trains to run on our railways. Rolls Royce (majority owned by American and other foreign investors) makes nuclear power plants for our submarines, engines for our military aircraft and engines for commercial aircraft - so nurses, teachers and other public sector workers can go on holiday! Hundreds of smaller private companies in and around Derby rely on suppling these companies or providing services to their employees.
“We”, the public sector, are the economic oil that makes the wheels go round! Remove the oil and the wheels grind to a halt!
Failure to invest nationally, and failure to provide Local Authorities with the funds required for local services, explains why our country looks the way it does - pretty seedy - potholes in roads and litter everywhere. Stephen Graham (the actor who seems to be in everything these days) live in Ibstock and recently said “I love England. It’s going to the shit a bit, but I love the people in this country.” A pretty sound analysis - a people let down by pusillanimous politicians.
LVT:
can replace all unfair taxes on property, including Council Tax.
can raise the same amount that all LAs require to provide all the services we need.
can begin to solve our unfair distribution of wealth.
can make austerity unnecessary.
Addressing concerns
Politicians also live in fear of the South East because of high property values.
There are simple ways to address concerns:
phasing in over 10 years (LVT goes up, other taxes go down) means people and the market have time to adjust. There will be no sudden changes.
the tiny minority who face higher bills can opt to defer paying the balance until property is sold or transferred. No one will lose their home because of LVT.
The system of national and local supplements (the opposite of tax breaks which create loopholes!) allows places like London to deal with local concerns.
Justification for LVT
As a society we own all the land in the country through the Crown.
As a society we control how land is used through the planning system.As individuals (*) we can’t own land but we can “hold” it by purchasing the “freehold”.We are "landholders" not "landowners" despite what many would like to believe.
As individuals (*) we own things on the land: structures, plants etc.Land is a shared national asset.LVT is a simple way for society to benefit from the land we share.* Note: any “legal entity” can hold land: people, companies, trusts etc.LVT in a nutshell
The key points behind LVT are covered in this short presentation - which has no sound.
Full screen landscape is recommended and please use the pause button if it goes too quickly!
Facts about land
Land is under our feet - under our homes, our fields, our rivers, our lakes, our roads, our offices and our factories
"Land" is a defined area of the Earth's surface.
“Property” is a combination of land and everything on it: buildings, plants etc.
Land is a national asset - it accounts for over 60% of our national wealth: £7 trillion out of almost £12 trillion.
The job of government is to use our national assets for the benefit of us all.
We own it and we control its use - but we get nothing in return - there is no tax on land.
50% of the land in England is held by 1% of the population.
30% of the land is held by the Aristocracy (Monarch, Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, Barons).
5% of the land is held by home owners.
71% of land in England is used for agriculture.
46% of all agricultural land in England is farmed by tenants paying rent to landholders.
Fewer than 300,000 people work in agriculture - about 1% of the workforce.
Council Tax is a tax on homes and gardens - the land and everything on it.
A £54 million house in Westminster pays less Council Tax than a £260,000 new build in Gateshead.
The unusual case of Anders Povlsen
This is the Danish billionaire Anders Povlsen
Anders built up the worldwide Bestseller retail chain.
Anders holds over 220,000 acres of land in Scotland.
Anders is committed to environmental protection and wildlife introduction.
Anders pays LVT on his land in Scotland.
The LVT goes to Denmark, not to Scotland.
Denmark uses LVT, Scotland doesn't.
Danish families benefit from LVT paid on Scottish land.
Denmark publishes maps of who holds land and it updates those maps every day!
Is there any reason why we don't do the same?
What should LVT replace?
LVT is a general purpose tax designed to replace unfair taxes - especially those, like Council Tax and VAT, that fall unfairly on those with lower incomes.
Initially LVT can replace Council Tax but there is some discussion as to whether it should also replace Business Rates which are currently collected by Local Authorities who then pass 50% to national government. Business Rates are a much fairer tax than Council Tax.
Having discussed it (at length!) we have come down in favour of using LVT to replace Business Rates as well as Council Tax. Our reasons are simple:
It retains the simplicity of LVT - a tax on the value of all land with no exceptions. Making land occupied by business an exception creates problems and loopholes. At the moment a whole industry has grown up advising businesses on how to minimise business rates - more jobs for tax avoidance advisors.
Business would probably pay less if it paid LVT instead of business rates. LVT has a base rate - set to bring in the revenue required and the system of supplements allows national and local government to increase the rate under certain circumstances. Government may decide to add a national supplement If it is felt that business premises should contribute more than domestic premises. This is a political decision.
LVT is paid by the freeholder who is easy to identify through the Land Registry - even if a non-dom or resident in a tax haven! Business Rates are currently paid by the tenant so it makes sense to have the freeholder pay the tax.
LVT is collected nationally (by HMRC). This frees up resources in over 300 LAs who currently collect Council Tax. Those resources can be used to boost LA planning departments to speed up planning applications and to hold developers to account. It therefore makes sense to collect Business Rates nationally as well.
So, initially we propose that LVT replaces both Council Tax and Business Rates.
Ferne Park
Jonathan Harmsworth, the tax avoiding owner of the Daily Mail, is a nom-dom, he is not resident in the UK for tax purpose. His residence is Ferne Park in Wiltshire - shown at the top of this page. As well as Ferne Park Jonathan holds 4,700 acres of the Bryanston Estate in Dorset which he purchased from the crown estate in 2015. The estate is legally held in the name of Bryanston (RFE) Ltd whose shareholders are based in Jersey. Jonathan’s Harmsworth Trust Company (PTC) Ltd is based in the British Virgin Islands tax haven.
Jonathan’s “newspaper” describes Land Value Tax as a “garden tax” because Jonathan does not want to pay tax on his 4,700 acre “garden” - he prefers to take rent from his farming and other tenants. Like many so-called “patriots”, Jonathan goes out of his way to avoid his social responsibilities by finding every possible way to avoid tax. We have no wish to be sued by the Daily Mail so we are not suggesting that Jonathan is a liar and hypocrite.
In 2024/25 Jonathan paid £4,452 Council Tax (a tax on homes and gardens) in Band H. In Gateshead a Band H property (if there is one) would pay £4,901.
Jonathan’s family has a long history of avoiding tax as well as some unfortunate political affiliations.