ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on recurring real estate taxes that use land as a tax base, since systems show particular inherent benefits for a successful land use policy. It responds to issues of land scarcity, equity, and ecology, and supports urban planning and land policy. Land policy must ensure that the profits, sometimes triggered by public investments, are regained for the public to generate revenues for local governments through appropriate taxation, and to use the set screws to simultaneously encourage sustainable urban development. Several forms of real estate taxation can be differentiated, especially nonrecurring and recurring taxes. Public administration should have a vested interest in a fair, regular, efficient, functioning real estate taxation system that produces stable revenues. Estonia is currently the only country in the European Union applying a land value tax without any other form of additional real estate taxation. For the land value tax (LVT), taking only site (land) values without buildings or other improvements is characteristic.
