The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday approved bills that would raise property taxes, making it more difficult to make a profit from short-term property transactions, including transfers of presale projects and shares.
The bills would subject houses sold within two years of purchase to combined property taxes of 45 percent, while the taxes would be 35 percent on houses sold within five years of purchase.
The bills would impose a stricter definition of “short-term” transactions, from two to five years, and also include transfers of presale projects and equities to close tax loopholes often used by corporate owners.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
“The effort to promote housing justice gains headway today, even though there is still ample room for improvement,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said.
The bills do not impose higher taxes on multiple home owners, which analysts have said would be more effective in curbing property hoarding.
Government data show that more than 13,000 companies and 80,938 individuals own more than four properties, and that together they own 14 percent of homes nationwide.
House prices rose significantly last year, especially in central and southern Taiwan, on the back of ultra-low interest rates and excessive liquidity.
A majority of companies sell a property within one year of the purchase, the government has said.
The bills need to clear the legislature, with lawmakers divided on when the new tax rates should be implemented pending further cross-party negotiations.
Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮) reiterated his wish that the Executive Yuan be given the final say on the implementation date, as such matter requires coordination between ministries.
The ministry expects the revisions to slow housing transactions by 30 percent.
Some lawmakers favor a quick implementation on July 1, along with a new requirement that housing transaction details include the number of the building, rather than just the neighborhood.
The combined tax rate would be 20 percent when selling a property more than than five years after it was purchased. A 10 percent rate for self-occupied homes, held for more than six years, would remain.
The punitive tax rates of 35 and 45 percent also apply to foreign individuals and corporations, as well as share transfers among unlisted firms.
Shining Building Business Co (鄉林建設) chairman Lai Cheng-i (賴正鎰) said that the bills would “play havoc” with the property market, contrary to the government’s efforts to boost the economy.
Companies shifting their production bases home from overseas have been more responsible for property price rises, Lai said.
Supply chain realignment has also led to higher labor costs and price increases of building materials, and developers have had to pass on the burden, he said.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
RSS