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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and