Question

implement a step by step property tax policy to raise the revenue of a city in order to reduce the dependence on state and federal aid.

take under consideration the local businesses so that the poor dont get affected by the policy

Implement a policy to raise property tax on businesses in order to raise revenue for a city

Answer 1

Property Tax is an important element for economic gains for any country. This tax is widely collected across the globe, and is used for various purposes such as infrastructure development, health care delivery, payments to government departments, defence, police etc.

The following is a step by step guide, to how I believe the policy should be made: -

1) Defining the Areas and Jurisdiction: -

The first step in implementation of a tax regime of property, is to define the area where it would be set. The types also need to be clearly defined. Land usually happens to be of 3 main types i.e. residential, commercial and agricultural in nature. Therefore, the first and foremost technique is to define the key areas and jurisdiction wherein the law would be applying.

2) Minimum Guidelines: -

The next step after we have defined the areas is to set minimum guidelines for the administration of the tax itself. This means the type and nature of the assessment which needs to be done, the minimum area to be owned and the degree of taxation to be applied on each property types. This helps in assessing the liability of the owners of different types of properties.

3) Payment Guidelines & Fines and Penalties: -

It is important to set in a time line in which the payment should be made, and the mode of payments which the government accepts should clearly be laid down. Further, the next step would be to setup strict penalty codes wherein you would extend the amount of penalties which must be paid in order to ensure adherence

4) Exemptions: -

As mentioned in the case study, poor people with agricultural backgrounds or others which do not have significant amount of earnings, may be expected from the preview of the taxation law. This is done to ensure social justice and may be revised if need be later.

All these exemptions need to be clearly defined and well mentioned in the law itself.

5) Redressal Mechanism: -

The next step, is to decide how disputes if any would be handled. Often, there may be a situation wherein it could be our fault in calculating the payable taxes, for this setting up redressal and appeal methods should be set up by the policy itself.

Please feel free to ask your doubts in the comments section if any.