Real Estate property taxes coming in Thailand?

[Guest travelerjim]

Land, building taxes draft bill not true reform : critics

By Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation

 

More measures are needed to reduce inequality; generate income for poor

The draft bill on land and building taxes will not cut down on inequality in terms of land ownership or generate income for poor people and farmers, prominent economist and social critic Pasuk Phongpaichit said.

 

"This land and building tax bill is not directly aimed at reducing social inequality in land ownership or distributing unoccupied land. There seems to be a misunderstanding and expectations from the bill," she said.

 

Pasuk was speaking at the "Bill on Land and Building and the Fairness of Land Ownership" seminar held by Thai Land Reform Network at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Economics.

 

The Cabinet approved the bill in April after it was submitted by the Finance Ministry.

 

Under the draft bill, landowners must pay their taxes to the local

administrative organisation.

 

The maximum rate would be 0.5 per cent of the value as appraised by the

Treasury Department at the initial stage.

The draft bill also sets a ceiling on rates for three types of land, with no more

than 0.05 per cent on farmland; no more than 0.1 per cent on residential land; and

no more than 0.5 per cent on land used for other purposes or left unused.

 

If land is left unused for three years, owners must pay 1 per cent of the value of the land

in taxes, which will be increased to 2 per cent after three years and remain at that rate in following years.

 

"The bill will force landowners either to sell their land or put it to good use so they can avoid having to pay high taxes," she said. "Also, the bill will help stop realestate speculation."

 

Pasuk said the government should run programmes like the ones used in Taiwan, South Korea

and Japan, where people who own large tracts of land have to hand some over to the state in exchange for government bonds.

 

"The government could take public land and distribute it among the landless," she said.

 

Surapong Songrak, a member of the land reform network, said the government should revoke the ceiling on the rate that owners are taxed for unused land, because this would allow them to profit from speculating on land.

 

"The government should collect land tax at a progressive rate," he said, adding he did not

see any clear policies about using financial measures to support the redistribution of land.

 

Meanwhile, Duangmanee Laowakul, a lecturer at Thammasart University's Faculty of Economics, said the government should set up a committee to monitor each individual owner's usage of

land so the local administrative organisation can esti mate the rate at which they should be taxed.

[Guest GaySacGuy]

Whose is going to generate this income for the poor....poor rice farmers being taxed for their land that has been in the family for generations??? There isn't a whole lot of industry in most of the country, so who pays!!!!?????

[Guest fountainhall]

My understanding is that there is already a form of capital gains tax if you sell a condo, with the profit assessed by the Lands Department rather than on the price paid by the buyer. Does anyone know is this is correct?

 

And is this annual tax likely to affect condo owners?

[Guest travelerjim]

My understanding is that there is already a form of capital gains tax if you sell a condo, with the profit assessed by the Lands Department rather than on the price paid by the buyer. Does anyone know is this is correct?

 

And is this annual tax likely to affect condo owners?

 

I believe there is a capital gains tax...

if you sell your personal condo before 5 years...

of about 20% of the gain.

 

And the property tax proposals would include tax on

Condo Ownership of .50 % or 1/2% annually..IF ever implemented.

 

Other forms of property (land, commercial etc)...

looks like they will have a higher property tax % due annually.

 

Maybe others will be more familiar with this proposal, which has been

talked about all year as an aim of the ruling party - The Democrats -

to gather in greater amounts of taxes for support of local provincial

governments.

 

tj