The Ottoman Land Code inherited by the British prescribed that houses were mostly privately owned and called "
mulk land" (land vested fully and completely to their owners), while land was viewed as
miri (allotted by the state to a village or number of villages and which cannot be private property of individuals), and is only leased to the tenants of indefinite duration, in which the lease is represented by the obligation to pay land taxes and land registry fees.
[24] When the
miri interest is alienated, the ultimate ownership called
raqaba is retained by the State.
[24]
At the time of the British occupation the land tax was collected at the rate of 12.5% of the gross yield of the land. Crops were assessed on the threshing floor or in the field and the tithe was collected from the cultivators.
[25] In 1925, additional legislation provided that taxation on crops and other produce not exceed 10%. In 1928, as a measure of reform, the
Mandate Government of Palestine began to apply an Ordinance for the "Commutation of Tithes," this tax in effect being a fixed aggregate amount paid annually. It was related to the average amount of tithe (tax) that had been paid by the village during the four years immediately preceding the application of the Ordinance to it.
[26]
In 1936 the
Survey of Palestine stated that the State Lands measured 500 sq miles out of Palestine's total area of 10,500 sq miles; at that point 51% of State Domain was occupied by Arabs and 17% by Jews.
[27]
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