New property taxes may see homeowners sell extras, or start planting

[buksida]

The new land and buildings tax will force homeowners to reduce residential units being held and shift housing development to larger units, as only principal homes will be exempted.

Chinapat Visuttipat, founder and partner of legal firm One Law Office, said homeowners possessing a lot of houses will reduce the number of units they hold to reduce their tax burden.

"The new land and buildings tax will change behaviour among residence owners," he said. "Those having many units will sell their properties in order to buy larger ones. The second-hand home market will be larger after this tax law is effective."

According to the new land and buildings tax, which took effect on March 12, 2019 but was postponed to this year, principal homes with appraisal prices of up to 50 million baht are tax-exempt.

Those valued at 50-75 million baht are taxed at 0.03% of appraisal price, 75-100 million baht at 0.05% and more than 100 million baht at 0.1%.

Those who only own houses, not land, qualify for a tax exemption for the first 10 million baht of their home's appraisal price.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/19 ... ell-extras

Ties in with this ...

Thais are now planting the world’s most expensive limes and bananas to avoid taxes
Urban farms have been touted in the west as the next step in urban development. Rooftop farms and community gardens offers an opportunity to create green space where only concrete existed before.

The produce feeds the neighborhood, neighbors are afforded a chance to build communities and cities become a little bit more sustainable.

“Urban farms are wonderful and it is being incorporated more and more into architecture and city planning,” said Nate Baquero, an urban planner working with the Minnesota State Government.

“You’re not only create green space in a city but if done right it can help alleviate problems of wastewater, of empty decaying lots and contribute to the local economy,” he told Thai Enquirer.

But western models of urban farming do not necessarily apply to the situation in Thailand.

Here, urban farms have been perverted by large landholders as a way to avoid taxes and increase real estate prices.

https://www.thaienquirer.com/12674/thai ... oid-taxes/

[handdrummer]

This is exactly what is needed in Thailand: more houses on the market. Another brilliant government move.