Chapter  II

B
THE  SECOND  LEG  OF  THE  SINGLE  TAX  TRIPOS
THE  NONSHIFTAB1L1TY  OF  A  LAND  TAX
A  tax  upon  ground  rent  cannot  be  shifted  upon
the  tenant  by  increasing  the  rent,  if  it
COULD,  THE  SELLING  VALUE  OF  LAND  WOULD  NOT
BE  REDUCED,  AS  IT  NOW  IS,  BY  THE  CAPITALISED
TAX  THAT  IS  IMPOSED  UPON  IT
T HE  question  is  whether,  if  a  new  tax  should  be
put  upon  land,  the  owner  would  not  escape  by
adding  it  to  his  tenant’s  rent?
It  is  not  a  sufficient  answer  to  quote  the  authorities:
the  query  still  remains,  what  are  the  arguments  upon
tvhich  the  authorities  rely?  Following  is  an  attempt
at  the  clear  statement  which  these  arguments  deserve.
Ground  rent,  “what  land  is  worth  for  use,”  is  determ
 med,  not  by  taxation,  but  by  demand.  Ground
re nt  is  the  gross  income,  what  the  user  pays  for  the
Use  of  land;  a  tax  is  in  the  nature  of  a  charge  upon
this  income,  similar  to  the  incumbrance  of  mortgage
mterest.  It  is  a  matter  of  every-day  knowledge  that
even  though  land  be  mortgaged  nearly  to  its  full  value,
no  one  would  think  for  a  moment  that  the  owner  could

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