Finland uses a land value tax. The rate on land with buildings ranges from 0.5 to 1% of land value, with lower rates for land with permanent housing, higher rates for land used as summer cottages, and a ‘penalty’ rate of 3% on vacant lots in urban areas.

“The most recent amendment [to the system] also contains a new section providing for a special ‘penalty tax’ on vacant lots in urban areas, raising their tax rate to 1.0 to 3.0 per cent, representing at the highest end a trebling of the normal tax. The purpose, of course, is to bring such lots into the market or spur their owners to develop them.”