The Burdens of Local Taxation and Who Bears Them — Lawson Purdy
The Langenderfer Library: Classics in Tax, Economics, and AccountingShow Notes
Who really pays local property taxes—the legal taxpayer, the tenant, the landowner, or the consumer? Lawson Purdy examines how taxes on land and buildings affect rents, property values, development, and the distribution of municipal burdens.
Moving beyond the person named on the tax bill, Purdy traces how local levies are shifted through markets and argues for assessment practices that distinguish land value from improvements. The essay is an early and practical contribution to the study of tax incidence and urban fiscal reform.
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