RENT TAX CANNOT BE SHIFTED 33
increase, until, for extreme illustration, the tax is
11,000, an amount equal to the entire rent; would such
a condition make it possible for the owner to raise his
tenant’s land rent to $2,000?
These questions would seem to answer themselves
in the negative, and thus bring us to a fair conclusion
in the matter.
What the Authorities Say of The Second Leg of the
Single Tax Tripos, viz.: That a Tax upon
Ground Rent Cannot Be Shifted.
"The weight of authority upon such a question is worthy of
attention, although by no means decisive. Now, while a few
respectable and sincere students of economic science hold to the
doctrine of transferability of the ground-rent tax to the tenants,
no one will dispute that an overwhelming weight of authority
both in numbers and in reputation, scout that doctrine as
absurd. Not only the entire school of Ricardo and Mill, but
also nine-tenths or more of other economic writers make it a
fundamental doctrine of their science that such a tax never can
ke transferred to tenants.” — Thomas G. Shearman, “Natural
Taxation” pp. 129-132.
“Though the landlord is in all cases the real contributor, the
tax is commonly advanced by the tenant, to whom the landlord
18 obliged to allow it in payment of the rent ."—Adam Smith,
Wealth of Nations,” Book V., Chapter 11., Part 2, Art I.
“A land tax, levied in proportion to the rent of land, and
v arymg with every variation of rent, is in effect a tax on rent;
and such a tax will not apply to that land which yields no
rent, nor to the produce of that capital which is employed on the
land with a view to profit merely, and which never pays rent;
11 will not in any way affect the price of raw produce, but will
fall wholly on the landlords.”—Ricardo, “Principles of Political
Economy and Taxation,” McCulloch’s edition, p. loy.
