A
land/location value tax (
LVT), also called a
site valuation tax,
split rate tax, or
site-value rating, is a levy on the unimproved value of
land. It is an
Ad valorem tax that, unlike
property taxes, disregards the value of
buildings,
personal property and other
improvements. The
economic efficiency of a land value tax has been known since the eighteenth century. Many economists since
Adam Smith and
David Ricardo advocated for this tax, but it is most famously associated with
Henry George, who argues that because the supply of land is fixed and the values of land's locations is created by communities and public works, the
economic rent of land is the most logical source of public revenue.