Common Ownership Self-assessed Tax

Description

Julien Carbonnell:

COST "is a new property system, in which every citizen and especially corporation would self-assess the value of assets they possess, pay a roughly 7% tax on these values and be required to sell the assets to anyone willing to purchase them at this self-assessed price (no speculation, no auction nor overbid).

This tax would raise enough revenue to eliminate other taxes on capital (such as on inheritance, corporations, capital gains, property and so forth) significantly reduce income taxes and pay down much of public debt, while at the same time funding a large social dividend or funding critical public infrastructure. Beyond these economic benefits, a COST would create a healthier relationship to property, teaching us to detach from our material possessions and stop trying to exploit one another in commercial transactions, instead seeking to increase the value of common wealth and strengthening the bonds of community. All major private wealth (every factory, patent or plot of land) would be constantly for sale at a fair price and most of the value of these properties would be paid out equally to all citizens as a social dividend. With most value of assets accruing to the public, every asset would become cheaper to (partially) own, democratizing the control of assets and offering everyone new opportunities to start businesses or households." (https://medium.com/@julien.carbonnell/civil-society-futures-of-citizenship-and-democracy-through-digital-era-24e28c27276)

More information

See the book: Radical Markets