The state coffers could benefit from increases in property tax revenue next year, as major municipalities are raising taxes on people who own multiple homes in a bid to discourage property hoarding, Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮) said yesterday.
Su made the remark at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee after Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Hsinchu County and Hsinchu City made known their intentions to raise property tax rates to 3.6 percent on fourth, fifth or sixth homes, effective in July, to ease house hoarding.
Su estimates the additional property tax revenue, due in May, to be slightly less than NT$10 billion (US$351.42 million) per year.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Taipei has set property tax rates at 2.4 percent for second homes and 3.6 percent for third homes. New Taipei City said it would make changes, but has not disclosed percentages. It is the responsibility of local administrators to set property tax rates.
The ministry would review property taxes in May next year to determine if further revisions are necessary, Su said.
Tax bases could also be discussed, he said.
The ministry could monitor how local governments implement property taxes, Su said, adding that Changhua and Kinmen counties have not adjusted property taxes in the past 40 years.
Taxes on multiple homes could help deter rises in housing prices that are caused by property speculation, but could prove ineffective in reversing cost-driven price increases, Su said, adding that developers have attributed ongoing property price hikes partly to soaring building material prices.
The ministry is enhancing its crackdown on tax evasion stemming from owners who have a minimum of 10 homes, with the effort likely extending later to owners with a minimum of five homes, Su said.
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