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 deter- 
m 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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