Taxation and Real Estate: an analysis for Brazilian urban agglomerations
land tax; real estate; urban development.
Given the growing demand for infrastructure and social services, resulting from the accelerated urbanization process, the debate between land taxation and property prices is crucial to investigate possibilities of revenue recovery for the local government. Starting from the rescue of the causal relationship between taxes on urban land and the sale price of real estate, this work brings an empirical approach to investigate this relationship. Specifically, econometric techniques will be used to investigate the hypothesis that land taxation is not associated with higher property values - as has been pointed out by the theoretical literature on this topic, but without robust evidence to date. To this end, 2019 data from the Netimóveis Network is used, one of the largest real estate brokers in the country, covering 20 cities in 4 urban agglomerations and 2 regional hubs in Brazil, in the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and South regions: Brasília (DF), Salvador (BA), Belo Horizonte (MG), Vitória (ES), Cachoeiro de Itapemirim (ES) and Criciúma (SC). The results can help municipalities overcome part of the resistance of the construction sector and landowners to update the Generic Value Maps.