Home > Property tax

1 Countries

1.1 Canada

Many provinces in Canada levy property tax on real estate based upon the current use of the land. Property tax levels vary between the Provinces.

1.2 United Kingdom

There is currently no ad valorem tax on residential property. Two former systems were dropped because of their extreme unpopularity. They were

• Schedule A income tax, a central government tax that was levied on the imputed rent, that is the rent that owner-occupiers of land would have been receiving from a tenant had they not been living in the houses they owned. However, actual (as opposed to imputed) rent is still subject to income tax under Schedule A;
• Rates, a local government tax that was levied in proportion to the assessed value of property. This was replaced under the Thatcher government by a poll tax, which proved even more unpopular than the rates, and was replaced by a mixed council tax which combines elements of property tax and a poll tax. The poll tax debacle was one of the factors that led eventually to Margaret Thatcher losing the office of Prime Minister. Rates are still (2003) levied on business property, though some classes of business are exempt.

1.3 United States

In the United States, property tax on real estate is usually assessed by local government, at the municipal or county level. Tax assessor offices are responsible for plotting and mapping land ownership for collection purposes. This is accomplished with the help of surveyors.

Rising real estate property taxes were a cause of taxpayer revolt in the westIn general, the term West Coast is a nickname for the coastal states of the Western United States, comprising California, Oregon and Washington, and sometimes Alaska and Hawaii (see Pacific States . The West Coast is a portion of the West. It has also com; see California Proposition 13 (1978)Proposition 13 was a ballot initiative enacted by the voters of the state of California on June 6, 1978. Its passage resulted in a cap on property tax rates in the state, reducing them by an average of 57%. Proposition 13 received an enormous amount of pu and Oregon Ballot Measure 5 (1990)Ballot Measure 5 of 1990 established state constitutional limits (Article XI, Section 11) on Oregon's property taxes on real estate. Property taxes dedicated for funding schools were capped at $15. 00 per $1,000 of assessed value, and gradually lowered to for more details.

In the US, another form of property tax is the personal property tax, which can target

• automobileAn automobile usually called a car (an old word for carriage) or a truck is a wheeled vehicle that carries its own engine. Older terms include horseless carriage and motor car with "motor" referring to what is now usually called the engine. The act of opes,
• other durable good s (though typically household good s and personal effects are exempt), and
• intangible assetIntangible assets are defined as assets that are not physical in nature. For example the building that a business owns is a tangible asset because it can be valued and sold for a specific sum of money. The most common form of intangible asset for a busines such as stockSee stock (disambiguation) for other meanings of the term stock A stock also referred to as a share is commonly a share of ownership in a joint stock company. The owners and financial backers of a company may desire additional capital to invest in new pros and bonds.

Personal property tax can be assessed at almost any level of government, though they are perhaps most commonly assessed by states.

Real estate taxes in many locations in the United States are used to fund school systems. Thus, poor areas perforce have disadvantaged school systems. The system of real estate taxes has been sharply criticized as being archaic for this and other reasons.