The Executive Yuan announced today that in order to realize housing justice, it will uphold the following three principles: making relevant transaction information transparent, not making capital available for housing speculation, and curbing such speculation.
Speculation on the price of housing will be prevented through numerous measures, including:
‧Property taxation regime adjustments currently being promoted by the Ministry of Finance.
‧Actual price registration for real estate transactions, a system already put into practice by the Ministry of the Interior.
‧Controls on loans for housing and land purchases, successively implemented by the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in recent years.
The unreasonably high property prices of recent years have exacerbated the wealth disparity between rich and poor while causing anxiety for young people who cannot afford to buy homes, the Executive Yuan said. The goal of the government's reforms is not to raise taxes but rather to resolve the long-term problem of an irrational property tax regime.
This adjustment of the property tax system is reasonable and will not affect people who live in the homes they own, officials promised. The changes are instead meant to prevent rapid flipping of properties multiple times by speculators to drive up the sale price and to put an end to abnormal astronomical leaps in property prices.
Any increase in government revenues due to the tax adjustments will be used to fund assistance of youths, senior citizens and the disadvantaged, such as mortgage interest and rent subsidies for young people as well as long-term care. Reallocation of resources will be directed toward the policy goals of housing justice.
The adjustment to the tax regime involves a wide spectrum of issues, the Executive Yuan emphasized. Hence, the MOF has been tasked with immediately commencing communication with the private sector about these policies, and it will take suggestions, which will serve as references for policymaking.