On the valuation of real property for taxation

Abstract

In a paper read last session, I advocated the adoption in Ireland of the English system of assessing real property for taxation, so far as the ascertaining the annual value of the premises went, on the ground that the definition of annual value in England was more generally applicable to all kinds of property, and more likely to ensure equality of rating than the estimate made in pursuance of the Irish Valuation Act, of annual value with reference to prices of agricultural produce; for under such an estimate land, the worth of which does not depend only on its fertility, is necessarily assessed below its real value. I also pointed out that the government or rateable value was no fair guide to the rent between landlord and tenant, inasmuch as improvements made by the tenant must necessarily be included in any public valuation, and could not have been excluded from that made under the Act of 1852, although that valuation is generally referred to as a standard for rent.