Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

> Since landlords are already charging for this value, an increase of taxes does not increase the rents.

This seems to assume that a rental property is forever a rental property and will continue to be rented at market price no matter what.

But that's not true. It's only a rental property if the owner can rent it out and not be losing money. If the conditions change (like taxes on it) so that's it can no longer be profitable, it is taken off the rental market (most likely by selling to someone who wants to live in it).

If that's one unit, no problem, the renter can go elsewhere. In the proposal being discussed where all rental units have a 4x tax increase, this applies to all rental units at once. Rent prices go way up and most rental units disappear from the market.




Ah, this is true. Targeting a certain specific thing in a market will cause distortions.

This is why I am for the value of all land being taxed. No distortions.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: