Potential revenue
Property taxes on immovable property yield fairly modest amounts of revenue in most countries. Their average yield in advanced economies is about 1 percent of GDP. That is two and a half times the average level in middle-income countries, which garner 0.4 percent of GDP. (Little is known about their revenue importance in low-income countries.) And there are huge variations in revenue raised within the two groups, especially among advanced economies (see chart). These large disparities in tax yield doubtless reflect differing degrees of popular opposition to their use and technical constraints in their administration—but they also signal a large potential for enhanced use.