A Compendium of Countries with an Area-Based Property Tax

The property tax constitutes an important source of own-revenues for autonomous subnational governments in developed countries. Although property taxes have not yet generated significant revenues for local governments in most transition economies and many developing countries, they will become a more important source of local finance as fiscal decentralization progresses and real estate markets develop in such countries. This compendium provides an overview of the countries that currently implement some form of area-based property taxation or that allow for the local option of an area-based property tax. The countries covered in the appendix include transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe, former Soviet Union countries, developing countries in Africa, and the Caribbean and Latin America. For each country, elements of its area-based system such as taxpayers, tax base, tax rates, exemptions, tax collection, and appeal procedures are discussed to the extent that information is available from both primary and secondary sources.

This compendium accompanies the working paper, “Area-Based Property Tax Systems: Current Practice and Equity Concerns”.