14: Taxes on Houses

Taxes on houses represent another attempt to tax the wealth of the people. This differs from taxes on land or other productive real estate in that the tax is levied on a non-productive asset, whether assessed of the owner of the property or its present occupant, the tax does not consider income or production, merely possession.

There's some additional reckoning to distinguish the ground on which the house is built, the structure itself, and any productive land that is used by the occupant or tenant. And as to tenants, whether they pay the tax directly or it is collected of their landlord (who increases rent demanded to cover this expense) makes little difference - it is an expense visited upon them as occupant.

Some economists consider taxes on houses, or on ground, or whatnot, as "particularly fit" in apportioning the expenses of state, in that the occupant of a plot of land that falls within the borders of a nation contributes to the expenses of maintaining the nation, which itself is but a mass of land.

Also, there is the same argument made of houses as land, in that taxation requires the owner or occupant to make productive use of the land in order to afford the taxes owed upon it.

However, tax upon houses are particularly offensive to the notion that citizens should be secure in their property, their dwelling being among the most significant of their possessions, and the prospect of having their home taxed by the state, and seized by the state if taxes are unpaid, is intolerable.

(EN: Ricardo does not seem to tie this back to the general market, though the connection is clear: a dwelling being a necessity of a worker, he must cover the expense of it from his wages, means demanding a higher wage of his employer, means the employer's costs are higher, means the employer must demand a higher price for his goods in the market.)