I volunteer with a group called Smart Taxes who are a sustainable taxation think tank. This has post is taken from their site (original in link above), and it is well worth reading if you want to hear about the reasoning behind using site value or land value taxation as opposed to ‘property taxation’.
Site Value Tax is a taxation reform included in the Irish government’s current Program for Government. It levies an annual charge on the value of all developed and undeveloped zoned land including the site under every building in residential use. It does not include un-zoned land i.e. agricultural land, forestry and peat-lands. It does not include developed commercial property currently subject to local rates but it is expected that SVT will replace commercial rates in due course. It does however, include land zoned for commercial uses not currently subject to rates. Research by Smart Taxes and other groups has shown that SVT has clear benefits over other kinds of property taxes from a number of perspectives; macro and micro-economic, environmental and social. …