Land Value Taxation for Local Government Finance in the Russian Federation

As the Russian Federation restructures its local government finances to provide greater local fiscal autonomy, it is changing the way it taxes land. Instead of using normative measures such as area or values based on subjective adjustments to area, the Federation is basing land taxes on cadastral value. This paper discusses the changing system of local government finance and the new system of cadastral valuation of land being used by the Russian Federation, using Saratov Oblast as a case study subject. Along with an extensive review of the valuation process, the paper discusses important administrative, economic, and fiscal issues associated with the restructuring.