Here is a brief account of various places in the world today where land value taxation is partially applied and improvements are partially or fully exempt. Nowhere yet has the principle of the public collection of land rent, with abolition of all other taxes, been applied on a large scale. But partial applications indicate results commensurate with the degree of application.

"This bull, a very type of massive strength, who, because he has not wit enough to see how he might be set free," wrote Henry George in the introduction to Protection or Free Trade, "...seems to me no unfit emblem of the working masses." It is enshrined over the entrance of the Agricultural College in Odense, Denmark.

Denmark - Although Denmark collects much revenue from taxes on incomes and products, she still collects about 50% of the total annual ground rent through various methods. A land valuation is held about every five years. Danish methods are as follows:

1. Rental of government- acquired land to farmers at 4% of its selling value. About 12,000 small farmers rent their land in this way.

2. Local and national taxation of land values, with consequent reduction of taxes on improvements.

3. A national tax on increases in land values.

Results are impressive. Danish farm tenancy dropped from 42.5% in 1850 to less than 5% today. Productivity is high and a high standard of living prevails.

Australia - All six states and a majority
of the municipalities in the Commonwealth of Australia tax land values to a certain degree, and some exempt improvements in whole or in part. However, there are many other non-real-estate taxes.

In New South Wales, for example, all local taxing units tax land values only. There is no state land value tax, but the state collects royalties on minerals. The City of Sydney is the largest city in the world to derive all its municipal revenue from land value taxation. Building has been encouraged, slums eliminated and the price of land stabilized.

Hong Kong and Singapore - Both of these Asian city-states are small in area, heavily urbanized and densely populated. Because of the scarcity of land, the majority of land in both cities is publicly owned and distributed to developers via long-term leases. In this way, ground rent provides a sizeable portion of public revenue, and taxes, on both personal and corporate incomes, are relatively low. Also, many people live in public housing in both cities (86% of Singapore's population, and roughly half of Hong Kong's). This keeps the cost of housing low, which tends to dampen costs fopr employers, helping to keep businesses competitive. Hong Kong has now been returned to the jurisdiction of China, but its land-tenure policies have not changed and it remains prosperous.

The Former Soviet States - As the former Soviet states approach a newborn market economy, its people do not forget that all lands and natural resources have been the property of the state. A movement is underway to recognize common property in land along with private ownership of capital. Much is uncertain about Russia's future, but the understanding that land is common property is not lost on Russian citizens. In Estonia, American land assessors provided the means for an effective land value taxation system to be administered, and Estonia's new public revenue system has contributed to impressive progress there. On the other hand, Russia has allowed the "oligarchs" to control economic policy. Ignoring the rent-as-revenue policy, Russia embarked on a disastrous sell-off of natural resources. The disposition of land ownership is vital to the shape of the emerging post-Soviet economy.

Canada - Various cities in western Canada tax land values at a higher rate than improvements. In British Columbia, 54 of the 104 municipalities exempt improvements 50%; 13 exempt them more than 50%. In New Westminster, 86% of the householders own their own property and land speculation has disappeared. Alberta requires its 7 cities to exempt improvements 40% from taxation. The province taxes land values to some extent, including a land-transfer tax called an "unearned increment tax". The province obtains considerable revenues from oil leases, rentals and royalties (a form of land rent, which has made possible a "Heritage Fund.") In Saskatchewan all but one of the cities and towns exempt improvement values 40%; Regina 70%. In rural municipalities land value taxation is the primary source of revenue. In Manitoba cities and towns exempt improvements one-third.

United States - The general property tax and the real property tax, insofar as they fall on land values, take for local or state purposes part of the ground rent in the U.S. In many cities the cost of streets, water mains, lights, etc., is charged to adjoining properties through special assessments. Government collection of royalties on mineral land, oil fields, etc., as well as public lands, recoup some ground rent. Even though the property tax is seen as merely one of many "broad-based" taxes, various levels of government in the US do succeed in capturing some ground rent for public revenue.

Two-Rate Property Tax Reform - Nineteen cities in Pennsylvania and one in New York now apply what is termed the "graded tax plan" whereby land is taxed at a higher rate than improvements. Although this was an important factor in Pittsburgh's "Renaissance II" in the 1980s, after a reassessment in 2003 inaccurately penalized many small homeowners, Pittsburgh abandoned the two-rate tax. Nevertheless, other Pennsylvania cities, most notably the capital city of Harrisburg, have undertaken the two-rate shift with great success.

California - In 1909 the California legislature required new irrigation districts (and gave the option to established ones) to tax land values only, exempting improvements, crops, etc. Today over 100 districts, serving four million acres of the best farmland in the state and raising about 75% of its crops, follow this system. Speculation was eliminated, and California's pre- eminent role in US agriculture began during that period.

Alaska - The state owns much of the oil land around Prudhoe Bay, and collects a 12% royalty. This has resulted in abundant revenues beyond public expenses, and has made possible a per capita dividend and a cancellation of the income tax.

Fairhope, Alabama - This is a colony operated by the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation which owns much of the land in Fairhope and leases it to its residents. With the economic rent it collected, the corporation paid property taxes levied by the state, county and city, and used the remainder is used for public improvements. Fairhope far outstripped its neighboring towns in growth. Unfortunately, internal political pressure has led the Corporation to discontinue this effective rent-collection policy.

The Three Ardens, Delaware - These are Arden, Ardentown, and Ardencroft. The land is leased to its users, and no taxes are collected on improvements. Arden's land rent fund pays local taxes for its residents, and is sometimes used for public improvements. These towns are well-known as beautiful residential communities. However, land prices in Arden are high, showing that the community does not collect anwhere near the full rental value of land.