Combined property tax revenue in the first quarter of the year soared nearly twofold annually to a new high of NT$7.29 billion (US$249.78 million), more than the sum of the previous five years, due to steep hikes in housing prices and active transactions, Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋) said.
The sharp gain in property tax revenue — also known as integrated house and land sales tax — mocked a spate of unfavorable policy measures introduced by the government to induce a soft landing for housing prices, the nation’s sole listed broker said in a news release on Thursday.
Taichung’s property tax revenue increased 62 percent year-on-year to NT$1.55 billion, making the special municipality the largest contributor of property taxes in the country, Sinyi research manager Tseng Ching-der (曾敬德) said.
Photo: CNA
New Taipei City ranked second with NT$1.02 billion in property tax revenue, more than doubling the NT$480 million it recorded a year earlier, Sinyi said, citing government data.
If unfavorable measures worked, property transactions and property tax revenue would have declined, Tseng said, adding that when property gains outpace tax burden increases, people make transactions.
Kaohsiung placed third, contributing NT$9.4 billion in property tax revenue, a 99 percent increase from a year earlier, Sinyi said.
Property tax revenue in Taipei rose 87 percent to NT$840 million, jumped 182 percent in Taoyuan to NT$810 million, while Tainan generated NT$640 million of property tax revenue, an 89 percent increase from a year earlier.
Property tax revenue spiked 480 percent to NT$370 million in Hsinchu County and increased 145 percent to NT$250 million in Hsinchu City.
The extension of property taxes to presale contract transfers also helped drive up overall property taxes, Tseng said.
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