Levy Scale Expands, Driven by Announced Land Value Hikes
This year's nationwide land value tax is levied from November 1, with payment deadline on November 30. The Ministry of Finance announced that the nationwide levy covers about 9.39 million cases, up 1.64% from last year, with tax levied reaching NT$104.6 billion, up 6.91% YoY. The growth in tax amount was markedly higher than the growth in cases, mainly due to an average 5.24% increase in nationwide announced land values, as well as land ownership transfers and changes in use.
By region, Kinmen County posted the largest average increase this year at 10.29%, followed by New Taipei City at 10.05%, while Taoyuan City, Tainan City and Hsinchu County all rose by more than 7%. As announced land value is an important basis for calculating land value tax, upward adjustments across counties and cities have pushed up overall tax revenue.
Owner-Occupied Homes Account for Nearly Half of Cases, Less Than 10% of Tax
Land for owner-occupied homes is subject to preferential tax rates, with a significant difference in tax burden from general land use. According to Ministry of Finance statistics, owner-occupied home land accounted for about 4.24 million cases this year, or 45.11% of the nationwide total, but tax amounted to only about NT$7.6 billion, or 7.25% of the total. Nearly half of cases contributed less than 10% of tax revenue, with the actual amount payable by individual landowners depending on the applicable tax rate and use.
Tax revenue is highly concentrated in the six special municipalities, with a combined levy of about 6.54 million cases and NT$87.1 billion in tax, accounting for 69.63% and 83.24% of the nationwide totals respectively; other counties and cities totaled about 2.85 million cases with NT$17.5 billion levied. Among them, Taipei City, while not having the most cases, had the highest total tax at about NT$29.8 billion due to higher land values, accounting for 28.45% of the nationwide total and ranking first among counties and cities; New Taipei City, with about 1.72 million cases or 18.33% of the nationwide total, had the most levy cases.
August 31 as Record Date, Watch Transfer Timing
The Ministry of Finance reminds that land value tax uses August 31 each year as the taxpayer record date, with the obligor for the full year determined by the owner or dien-holder recorded in the land register on that day. For land with transfer registration completed before August 31, the current year's land value tax is borne by the new owner; if registration is completed on or after September 1, the original owner is responsible for the full year's tax. Even if land has already been sold, a tax bill for the current year may still be received. Members of the public with recent land purchases, sales or transfers should pay attention to taxpayer attribution and complete payment before the end of November to avoid penalties for late payment.