> Most businesses rent so property holders would feel the tax burden and rents would go up significantly.
Property holders would feel the tax burden, decreasing the net revenue from rent, and decreasing property values.
Rents are already at "market rates", and property values adjust to reflect the return on renting property. There might be some short-term price fluctuations as property owners try to maintain their existing margins, but an efficient market for real estate will stabilize rents close to the existing prices. The real losers would be those who purchased real estate assets expecting a consistent future return.
Rents are at market rates given current market conditions. Increasing costs to hold property by imposing new taxes on property holders decreases supply of rental property -- that is, it reduces the quantity supplied at any given price point -- which, with a normally-shaped demand curve, decreases the quantity traded and increases the market clearing price.
Market prices aren't independent of market conditions.
Property holders would feel the tax burden, decreasing the net revenue from rent, and decreasing property values.
Rents are already at "market rates", and property values adjust to reflect the return on renting property. There might be some short-term price fluctuations as property owners try to maintain their existing margins, but an efficient market for real estate will stabilize rents close to the existing prices. The real losers would be those who purchased real estate assets expecting a consistent future return.