萬國法律事務所

The exemption of the so-called “luxury tax,” anew tax to be levied on special goods and services, enumerated in the draft bill sent to the Finance Committee of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, may subject to further limitation.

The ten exemptions listed in the current bill including situations where: (1) the property was used by the owner, (2) the property was used to replace previous real property sold after acquiring the property, (3) the property was used as a farm house, (4) the property was used as a public facility, (5) the property was auctioned by a court, (6) the property was auctioned by a bank, (7) the property was sold for the first time by a construction company, (8) the property was inherited or given by will, (9) the property was transferred in a transaction between government agencies or (10) other situations certified by the Ministry of Finance. Nonetheless, during the discussion by the Finance Committee, the last exemption has been questioned by many legislators. Some argue that because the so-called “other situations certified by the Ministry of Finance” is so vague that it would open the back door to abuse and corruption and ruin the good intention of the bill. The Ministry of Finance, therefore, plans to add more specific exemptions to the draft and delete the last exemption in the original draft.

The bill is expected to be included in the Committee’s schedule in early April and provides that people who transfer their own real property within two years after the property is acquired will have to pay the luxury tax in an amount equal to 10% to 15% of the purchase price.