That much is true. However, often what you pay in property taxes will be less than appreciation. Buying property gives you a lot of rights in relation to that property, far more than renting, but in the end, all land is government land. Along that line, more fragile than property rights are your rights to exist unmolested. We would like to think that they are inherent, but in reality, they are granted by a social contract expressed in law and upheld by the judiciary. In many places you can be put in a cage for any number of reasons, with little or no recourse. It's worth considering that the laws, and the governmental structure that gives body to them, subsists on taxes. To some extent, property that is free from taxation, is also free from the social contract that recognizes a form of ownership.