1 1 8 RA TES AND TAXES 



In this part of the subject I shall deal 

 principally with the incidence of rates on 

 agricultural land. In its simplest form a 

 rate is a tax imposed on the net rental of 

 land. There are three possible persons who 

 may ultimately or really pay the tax, 

 namely, the landlord, the tenant, and the 

 consumer of the produce. It is easy to 

 show that under present conditions, the 

 consumer will bear very little, if any, of 

 the burden. He could only be affected by 

 a rise in prices, and prices are mainly 

 dominated by foreign competition. And 

 even if the country were isolated, and the 

 rate were imposed strictly on the economic 

 rent pure and simple, it might also be shown 

 that the consumer would not bear any part 

 of the burden. But in this case, as will 

 appear later, if the tax is not on the pure 

 economic rent, but on the gross rental, the 

 consumer might bear part at least of the 



