He's nearly got it ...

Adam Collyer left a comment on James Higham on "property rights"

Land Value Tax is basically a tax on assets rather than transactions, picking on a particular type of asset, namely land (1). Property rights are guaranteed by the State, not only in the case of land, but in the case of any other asset (2). Taking assets away from people is no more moral than taking the fruits of their labour (3).

What's more, I can't see any difference in principle between taxing land and say taxing the broadcasting spectrum, or landing slots at Heathrow, or any other asset whose supply is constrained naturally.(4)

1) Correct. And why is "land" different to other assets? It is because the location value of land has nothing to do with the efforts of any individual, and certainly not the individual who happens to own the land at any one point in time. The value of the location is the result of a nigh infinite number of other factors, positive and negative. What you own, or what you pay for when you buy or rent, is the enjoyment of, and the right to exclude others from the particular bundle of advantages, created by society in general. Pay unto Caesar, and all that.

You cannot put this on a par with any other asset, like a car or a television or a painting. In fact, there are hefty taxes on such 'assets', being things like VAT and the corporation tax/income tax paid by those who produced it, and which have to be paid all over again when they wear out and are replaced. Such taxes ought to be reduced or scrapped, of course.

2) Land-ownership rights are not just guaranteed by the State, they are created by the State. Without a State there can be no land ownership, it is every man for himself, and whoever has the biggest army, or is most determined to own it is, almost by definition, the State (e.g. when the colonialists claimed legal ownership of Northern America or Australia).

Although nominally, the State protects your other property (like a car or a fridge or a painting), if they are stolen, your chances of it being returned to you are minimal, which is why people insure these things. There is no need to insure the land itself (as opposed to the buildings), all you need is an entry at HM Land Registry and to pop round every now and then to check there are no squatters, in which case the police will chuck them out for you.

3) As to morals:
a) if the State has to collect money to pay for common expenditure, is it not moral to do so in a way that does not impose huge deadweight costs on economic activity, the free exchange of goods and services, and hence does not impoverish anybody? If taxation of incomes and production is reduced by £1 and taxation of land values increased by £1, then society becomes 50p or 80p richer (or however much the deadweight costs of such taxes are).
b) There's also the standpoint that land is not the "fruit of anybody's labour". It was just there and didn't belong to anybody until somebody with a big army came along and took it, so in owning (or occupying land) you are of necessity "taking assets away" from somebody else, the sum total of human wealth does not change. Conversely, if you go out to work, you are, in the main, adding to the sum total of human wealth.

4) Correct. For the purposes of this discussion, land values include broadcasting spectrum and landing slots at Heathrow.