The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday urged the Executive Yuan to implement an integrated housing and land taxation system, as well as a vacant home tax to increase the nation’s housing supply.
An amendment to the Income Tax Act (所得稅法), which was approved by the Cabinet on Thursday last week, redefines “short-term property ownership” by extending the duration from the previous limit to five years from two years.
Under the new tax system, private individuals and institutions would pay a 45 percent tax on the profit they gain from selling homes or properties within two years of purchase, while those who sell within two to five years of purchase would pay a 35 percent tax.
Photo: CNA
NPP Chairwoman Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said that while the party recognizes the government’s efforts in tackling an urgent and thorny issue, simply redefining short-term property ownership would not stop those with “deep pockets” from hoarding houses.
The government should define a tax bracket for gains from housing sales, Chen said, adding that people earning high profits from housing transactions should pay higher taxes.
If homeowners are willing to decrease selling prices, they would pay less property transaction tax, she said.
“This would not only guarantee a reasonable return on investment for homeowners, but it would also effectively curb the excessive rise in housing prices,” Chen said.
The deductible in transactions involving owner-occupied homes in the integrated housing and land taxation system was stipulated based on the housing market in 2015, Chen said, adding that the Ministry of Finance should survey the current housing market and readjust the deductible.
NPP caucus director Claire Wang (王婉諭) said the government should change the tax base and implement a tax bracket in the new tax system, otherwise real housing justice would never be achieved.
The Ministry of Finance should consult local government officials and review the actual housing prices registered by homeowners before readjusting the tax base, Wang said, adding that this would ensure reasonable housing prices in every locality.
The NPP also proposed a tax bracket that would protect homeowners and lower the percentage of people owning multiple homes, Wang said, adding that more vacant homes would in turn be released to the housing market.
The Cabinet delayed levying a vacant home tax on grounds that 780,000 tenants at rental units would be asked to pay the tax instead, Chiu said.
However, the party’s research showed that the Cabinet was citing the number of homeowners owning more than four properties, he said.
“The Cabinet was presuming that these homeowners have rented out each and every house they own to others, which is illogical,” Chiu said.
It has been proven that levying a vacant home tax would cause homeowners to release additional houses they own to the market, which would help stabilize the housing market and inhibit the rise of home prices and rents, he said.
Some people have attributed a hike in home rents in South Korea to a vacant home tax there, which was implemented in 2017, but data show that the annual rent increase in South Korea has since been much lower than that in Taiwan, Chiu said.
The Cabinet should not be frightened by the situation in South Korea and use it as an excuse not to charge vacant home tax, he said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh