• abogical@lemmy.one
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 year ago
    1. Maintain a central registry of who owns what housing and who lives there (necessary for the policies below). This can be used to audit abuses
    1. Raise property taxes on vacant housing
    1. Introduce a new yearly anti-speculation tax that depends on the owner of the unit:
    • Canadian citizens: 0%.
    • Permanent residents and people with work permits: 0%.
    • Companies established in Canada:
    • Single-family dwelling: 5%.
    • Dwelling between two and 6 units: 2%
    • Housing with more units: 0%
    • All other assumptions: 10% <-- this includes foreign investors

    Why all this bureaucracy? We can simply just shift property taxes to land value taxes. Much more equitable and it would disincentivize speculation and incentivize density. You only need to know who owns which parcel of land so its much less bureaucratic.

    • lildictator@feddit.nl
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      Land can either be a good investment, or it can be affordable; it can’t be both. A land value tax does nothing to prevent wealthy people to hoard vast amounts of land, driving the cost of land higher. Foreign investments in real estate are particularly damaging to affordability, because it makes ordinary Canadians compete against the wealthiest people around the world, a fight they can never win.

      • abogical@lemmy.one
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        You are right, land should not be a good investment. A land value tax supports this as it decreases the value of the land, it won’t be seen as an investment. Wealthy people and investors hoarding land will only increase their tax burden and thus will not be profitable for them.