Legislation to prevent the hoarding of real estate for tax purposes should be reviewed swiftly and forwarded to the legislature or the Executive Yuan should propose its own solution, rights advocates and opposition lawmakers said yesterday.
Social Housing Advocacy Consortium secretary-general Peng Yang-kae (彭揚凱) said that despite rising home prices, the number of people who have more than one house has increased, leading to increased centralization of realty ownership.
Of the 52,600 units constructed over the past six years, 53.5 percent were not for self-use, Peng said, citing statistics from the Ministry of Finance.
The number of people who own properties that they do not use themselves has grown on average by 7 percentage points per year, from 336,000 in 2015 to 502,000 this year, Peng said.
Housing constructed in the past five years comprise the greatest number of vacancies at 37.16 percent, he said.
People who own more than one house are more likely to purchase a house that has just been built, he said.
It is unfair that wealthy Taiwanese are not taxed more for buying new houses and leaving them empty, he said.
New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said that Cathay Real Estate Development Co data show that prices in the third quarter increased 4.05 percent from the previous quarter, rising to NT$319,600 per ping (3.3m2).
Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics data showed that last year there were about 1.66 million vacant units, or one vacant unit for every six occupied ones, Chiu said.
It is unfortunate that the Executive Yuan in March backtracked on a realty hoarding bill, he said, adding that it should expedite such legislation.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) said that the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should keep its promise to implement housing justice.
The government cannot blame local administrations for what ultimately is the central government’s duty, Tsai Pi-ru said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Kuei-min (李貴敏) said the government must offer an alternative if it feels that a hoarding tax would not stem rising prices.
If not, the Executive Yuan should expedite the review of the proposed realty tax and forward it to the legislature for review, Lee said.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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