The Ministry of Finance yesterday announced plans to expand the scope of the luxury tax to apply to virgin land in a bid to curb the rise of speculative transactions involving this kind of land.
The government recently found that more speculators are buying and selling virgin land — defined as land that has never been cultivated — especially in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Danhai New Town (淡海新市鎮) and Linkou District (林口), as well as in the areas requisitioned for the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project.
This is why the ministry passed the regulation extending the luxury tax, also known as the special sales tax on selected goods and services, to virgin land.
Under the regulation, which will be applied retroactively, the government will impose a 15 percent luxury tax on virgin land resold within one year of purchase and a 10 percent tax on that resold within two years of purchase.
The expansion will be applied to all transactions made after June 1, 2011 — when the tax was introduced — the ministry added.
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