[sustran] Re: FW: Land Value Taxation Event 23/04/03

Craig Townsend townsend at central.murdoch.edu.au
Tue Apr 15 12:58:08 JST 2003


Dear Paul,

I can tell you that in Thailand, land ownership is concentrated in the 
hands of a very rich elite which tends to be exempt from taxation and often 
holds powerful positions. In Bangkok, there is no land valuation based on 
market values, and no progressive land tax. Transport infrastructure projects 
become a way of increasing private land values and private wealth. The lack of 
accurate information about land values (and bubble real estate market) 
contributed to the financial crisis that began in 1997 and spread to 
neighbouring countries. The World Bank attempted to build land valuation 
capacity in Thailand in the wake of the crisis: I'm not sure if it was 
successful, but I doubt it. These matters are more political than technical. I 
would be interested to hear whether land value taxation exists in any other 
low or middle income cities. What about in Jakarta and KL?

Craig


Quoting Paul Barter <geobpa at nus.edu.sg>:

> Dear sustran-discussers
> Any thoughts on this topic of using land value taxation to help fund
> transport infrastructure below as it might apply in low-income or
> middle-income contexts? Does anyone know of successful cases in Asia or Latin
> America (or anywhere for that matter)? What's the catch?
> Paul




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