It appears increasingly probable that an agricultural land tax will be introduced in South Africa on a regional basis. Policy makers should consider such aspects as the rate of taxation and the method-of calculating the taxable value of land. In order to treat such decisions on its merits, insight is needed into the productivity-generating attributes of agricultural land as well as into the extent to which the various valuation methods are able to estimate these different value components. Several criteria were identified and applied in the evaluation of three valuation methods for agricultural land. Special consideration was given to the possible implementation of an agricultural land tax on a regional level. Specific circumstances in each political region, for example the homogeneity of land, could result in valuation methods performing differently with respect to certain criteria. It could also be possible that in certain regions various valuation methods could be applied in a supplementary manner, provided that secondary data was available. Ultimately, whatever criteria are chosen, the important premise should still be that the valuation method must reflect satisfactorily the heterogeneity between and within regions.