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Follow up to Committee Meeting 10/10/07

Is there any international evidence to suggest that the choice of local government taxation (property vs. income) is related to the degree of home ownership?

• The table below shows the proportion of home ownership for countries in rank order, and the main source of local taxation revenue associated with each;

• There appears to be some evidence of an association between high degrees of home ownership and the use of local property taxation.

• However, Italy, Finland, Belgium and Sweden are all countries where homeowners are in the majority, yet they use local income taxation. Additionally, countries with a comparative ‘rental’ culture, such as France and the Netherlands, use local property taxation.

Rank	Country	Proportion of Homeowners 1.	Main Local Tax Source
1	Ireland	83%	Property
2	Italy	78%	Income
3	Australia	69%	Property
4	UK	69%	Property
5	Finland	67%	Income
6	Canada	67%	Property
7	US	65%	Property
8	Belgium	65%	Income
9	Japan	60%	Mixture
10	Sweden	60%	Income
11	France	54%	Property
12	Denmark	53%	Income
13	Netherlands	49%	Property
14	Germany	43%	Income

1. The figures are based upon home ownership as a percentage of all households, using data for 2000.