The Role of the Property Tax in Financing Rural Local Governments in Developing Countries

Richard M. Bird () and Enid Slack ()
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Enid Slack: International Tax Program, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

No 608, International Tax Program Papers from International Tax Program, Institute for International Business, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Abstract: We argue in this paper that better rural local governments are needed to improve the lives of billions and that a good property tax is the key to improving rural local governments. Moreover, we suggest that only by giving local governments both the incentive and the ability to levy a property tax can effective rural local government and a meaningful rural property tax be achieved in most countries. Such a tax would often likely be a simple area-based levy, and the central government may not be too happy either with the way communities run the tax or how they spend the proceeds, but the critical role of the central government is to support and facilitate local action on this front, not to supplant it.

Keywords: property tax; rural local government (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H11 H71 R51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-pbe and nep-ure
Date: 2006-12
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ttp:itpwps:0608

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