Latest news with #landtax
Irish Times
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Reform zoned land tax to help solve housing ‘puzzle', says PwC
Ireland's tax on idle land zoned for housing must be reformed to encourage the level of private investment required to help solve the Republic's housing crisis, PwC has said. In a pre- budget submission, the Big Four accountancy firm has called on the Government to address the issue of housing development costs through taxation policy. 'At a time when the Government is actively focused on setting significantly increased targets for new housing output, it is critical that the policy environment for institutional capital is reviewed, and enhanced, if we are to attract the level of funding which will be required to support these new targets,' PwC said in the submission, published on Tuesday. At the top of the firm's wishlist for Budget 2026 is reform of the residential zoned land tax. Introduced in 2022 to encourage landowners to sell idle or vacant sites upon which housing could be developed, the tax is levied at 3 per cent annually on the market value of the land. READ MORE PwC said that while the tax is aimed at bringing down the cost of land by encouraging it to be brought to market, there are 'several issues' with its implementation that should be addressed as a 'matter of urgency'. Currently, landowners can defer payment of the tax under certain conditions. However, the Revenue Commissioners can claw back these deferred obligations if the ownership of the land changes. The Coalition should remove these clawback conditions for developers who sell unfinished land to third parties but are being engaged to complete the development on the site, PwC said. This so-called forward funding model is an increasingly common feature of the market here because it gives developers a degree of certainty around the financing of large-scale housing projects. PwC also said the stamp duty residential rebate scheme, which is due to conclude at the end of 2025, should be extended. The firm has also called on the Coalition to temporarily reduce the 13.5 per cent VAT rate on construction, 'specifically targeted at new, affordable houses and apartments for first-time buyers'. PwC said the average cost of delivering a three-bed, semidetached house in the greater Dublin area is €408,000, €48,478 of which is related to VAT charged at the 13.5 per cent reduced rate on the supply of immovable goods. A temporary reduction would be 'an effective measure to enable viability and increase affordability of newly developed residential property', PwC said. Paraic Burke, tax leader at PwC Ireland, said that at a time when geopolitical risks are rising, the Republic must look to 'control the controllables' domestically. 'While there are constraints about what we can do at international levels, domestically, Ireland has full control to determine its destiny on key domestic issues such as housing, decarbonisation and energy security,' he said. Mr Burke said a whole-of-government approach is required to solve the Republic's 'housing puzzle'. Among other things, PwC has also called on the Coalition to reduce the 33 per cent capital gains tax rate, which it said is one of the highest in Europe. A new 20 per cent rate would help to promote the transfer of businesses to future generations of business leaders, it said.
Free Malaysia Today
21-05-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Penang reviewing land tax rates, changes expected next year
Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said several new rate structures for land tax have been proposed. (Bernama pic) GEORGE TOWN : Penang is reviewing land tax rates for more than 370,000 properties across the state, with new rates likely to take effect on Jan 1, 2026. Chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said the land and mines office, together with the district land offices, was evaluating the existing rates, including for first grade land which accounts for over half of all registered land titles in the state. Chow said that current rates, particularly for first grade land, did not reflect market value and had contributed to revenue loss. First grade land covers premium land titles that offer the highest level of ownership rights and which typically have fewer restrictions on use or transfer. 'There are 197,412 first grade land titles, or 52.35% of the total. These will be affected by the review,' Chow said in a written reply to Lee Boon Heng (PH–Kebun Bunga) in the state assembly. Chow said several new rate structures have been proposed although none has been finalised. The review is expected to continue until the end of this year. In February, Penang land and mines office director Faizal Kamarudin said the last revision was in 1994. In a report in state-run Buletin Mutiara, Faizal said a revision was necessary to address stagnant tax revenue, which had remained unchanged for over three decades despite a sharp rise in land values.
ABC News
20-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
ACT Revenue Office 'lacks fair and reasonable approach' to recouping historical land tax debt, Ombudsman finds
The ACT Ombudsman has issued a scathing review of the ACT Revenue Office's heavy-handed collection of historical land tax debts, which it says has left people "confused, upset and distressed". Last year, the Ombudsman received 10 complaints about the assessments issued for historical debts, spanning back between six and 17 years. The debts, at times, included backdated interest and penalty tax. Land tax applies to ACT properties that are not the owner's principal place of residence, such as a rental or vacant property. An Ombudsman investigation found the ACT Revenue Office's (ACTRO) approach to recouping the money placed a "high burden on individuals" without considering their circumstances. While the revenue office was found to have acted lawfully, the Ombudsman said systemic changes were needed to fairly collect land tax debts in the ACT. The Ombudsman's findings come as an ABC investigation revealed criticism of the ACT Revenue Office has been building over its methods of collecting alleged debts from Canberrans, including stamp duty. People have described ACT Revenue Office notifications and letters as "heavy-handed" and "aggressive", often leaving them feeling "like criminals". The law does not set a time limit for raising land tax debts, but individuals are only required to keep records for a minimum of five years. In one case reported to the Ombudsman, Tara* received a land tax assessment for 2006-07 and 2009-10, showing she owed more than $5,000 in land tax and more than $1,800 in penalties and interest. She was asked to confirm records dating back to 2006, documentation she had not retained having sold the property five years after purchase. Tara paid the full amount to avoid further charges but was later refunded the $1,800, six months after requesting a review. The Ombudsman found the ACTRO had "no procedural guidance for its staff to address the sensitivities of recouping historical debt". It also noted people felt threatened by the risk of incorrectly recalling historical details and committing an offence. The complaints to the Ombudsman also raised concerns about the short length people were given to pay off their debts. In one case, Charlotte* was ordered to pay more than $5,000 in land tax and another $7,000 in interest and penalties within five weeks. The pensioner was experiencing financial hardship and signed up to a 12-month payment plan. People on payment plans continue to accrue interest — a process the Ombudsman said should be reconsidered. Individuals who disagree with the assessment notice can request a review, but interest will also continue to accrue during the objection process. The Ombudsman found fewer than half of objections were dealt with within six months, while others had to wait more than a year. "We were given just over six weeks from the date of the notice to pay the charges listed on the notice of assessment," a complainant told the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman found the ACTRO needed to improve how it manages objections "before using AI [artificial intelligence] and automation to generate lists for staff to send thousands of request for information emails". The Ombudsman made four recommendations to improve fairness, accountability, transparency and communication. In a letter to the Ombudsman, ACT Revenue Commissioner Kim Salisbury said he agreed to all the recommendations and would work with the Ombudsman to "contemplate changes to our processes". "ACTRO is committed to ensuring a customer focus with fairness and transparency in its processes," Mr Salisbury said. "While your examination of the 10 case studies has highlighted some useful aspects of future work for ACTRO, it is in the context of 4,300 land tax compliance assessments issued by ACTRO since 2022." ACT Shadow Treasurer Ed Cocks welcomed the Ombudsman's findings, describing the report as "a wake-up call". "This report highlights the deeply entrenched culture within the ACT Revenue Office," Mr Cocks said. "[It's] one that prioritises clawing back cash over treating Canberrans fairly. "It's outrageous that people are being pursued for decade-old debts through the revenue office's broken process, with little notice and limited opportunity to challenge them." Finance Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith met with the Ombudsman to discuss the investigation and said the government would "expedite" work to improve revenue office correspondence with Canberrans. "I have been concerned to hear about the distress experienced by some Canberrans as a result of their engagement with the ACT Revenue Office," Minister Stephen-Smith said. "The Revenue Commissioner has accepted the Ombudsman's recommendations, and I will be meeting with him tomorrow to discuss how expertise from across government can be brought to bear to support their implementation." Ms Stephen-Smith said she would seek further policy advice from the revenue office and ACT Treasury about improvements that could be made to processes for claiming concessions, undertaking compliance, and the application of penalties and interest.
