alt Hacker NewsThat is a good point, and this tax would need to be well thought out. I specifically would increase the tax rate the more properties an entity owns (Not a lawyer so IDK how to treat one guy owning 10 companies as 1 entity the right way). That way smaller local landlord's can still exist (and keep rental prices competitive), but massive orgs will be forced to sell properties. The idea is to create a disincentive for hoarding properties in supply constraint markets.
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> I specifically would increase the tax rate the more properties an entity owns (Not a lawyer so IDK how to treat one guy owning 10 companies as 1 entity the right way).
Very hard to make this work, people find complex ways around it; e.g. “I don’t own that property, it is owned by an LLC which is owned by a trust whose beneficiary is an LLC owned by another trust of which I’m one of the dozen individual beneficiaries”. Close that loophole, someone will cook up an even more obscure one.
The problem is not owning multiple properties, but untaxed land ownership. There's a prexisting solution for what you want to solve. It's called the Land Value Tax, which imposes a tax on land, but not on buildings and other improvement.
Property tax has a known problem of taxing improvement in addition to land, which constrict urban development. Plus, imposing additional property tax means improvements are further penalized, which means efficient land ownership are penalized.
You should look up Georgism and read up on what they have to say. It's a reaction to the 19th century economic condition but it very much apply to our 21st century situation and even more relevant today.