Britain considers limited land rent

An item I missed last week (scroll down to 'doing it wrong on land tax'): the British government is thinking of charging limited land rent: where a government action creates land value, that extra land value should be taxed. For example, if planning permission is granted, and so land values increase.

This is an excellent idea. But look at the details: the government does not actually create the value when planning permission is granted, it simply stops destroying value by withholding permission. Of course, it may be that withholding permission also created value by making the district a nicer place to live, in which case allowing permission destroys value in the long term. The only way to ensure that the real value is measured is to tax the bare land value everywhere. That way, the real long term benefits and costs are measured, and not just short term government-created distortions.