A6 · Pillar A · Revenue Optimization
Land-value and concentrated-holdings tax
Federal incentives, via conditional infrastructure and housing block grants, for state and local split-rate property taxes that tax unimproved land at higher rates than buildings. A modest federal levy on highly concentrated commercial land holdings above defined thresholds, aimed at speculation in agricultural and commercial real estate.
- 10-year fiscal
- +$150BRevenue
- Implementation
- Years 4–10
- Middle class
- Positive
- Planetary
- Positive
$50B–$250B · Low-Medium confidence
Lower effective taxation of housing improvements supports homeowners and new supply.
Encourages denser, transit-accessible development with lower per-capita emissions.
Global precedent
Pittsburgh and several other U.S. jurisdictions operate split-rate taxes. The Australian Capital Territory shifted from stamp duty toward land-value taxation from 2012. Estonia’s land tax has operated since 1993.
Lead mechanism
Treasury and HUD.
Bipartisan framing
Conservative case
Promotes development by reducing the tax penalty on construction and improvement.
Progressive case
Captures unearned land-value appreciation for public purposes.
Figures in this framework are illustrative directional estimates derived from publicly available data and conventional Congressional Budget Office budget-window logic. They are not official CBO scores. Any provision adopted from this framework would require formal CBO scoring before legislative consideration. This document is a policy white paper, not an introduced bill.