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Govt Proposes Vacancy Tax on Apartments

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  1. #21

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    Many people who buy newly built flats choose not to have anyone move in because they want to keep the flat pristine in the hope they get a higher price when they sell.

    Very common among our friends in the North.

  2. #22

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    Policing it is the issue.

    It would require a self-declaration that it is not empty but a principle residence for someone.

    The Tax Department would then need manpower to audit sufficient properties to make it meaningful.

    They have a few tools at their disposal to narrow down the search for offenders

    1) No tax or government letters to an address
    2) Very low utility usage
    3) No rental agreement
    4) Knock on doors

    Just enough vetting needs to be done to make committing tax avoidance a potentially real problem for property owners.

  3. #23

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    Every property has a registered owner so it is simple. Every owner can only declare 2 or 3 properties he or she is living in. Any extra properties will either be shown as rental income (and taxed) or as vacant (and taxed).

    Where there is a will, there is a way. If the tax rate was set appropriately to make financial sense, they can afford the manpower to do it.

  4. #24

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    You are correct. The current administration is not focused on competent governance.

    There are much bigger tasks ahead
    Last edited by East_coast; 21-03-2018 at 06:48 PM.

  5. #25

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    Like I said, where there's a will, there's a way... to close all the loopholes.

  6. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by East_coast:
    Policing it is the issue.

    It would require a self-declaration that it is not empty but a principle residence for someone.

    The Tax Department would then need manpower to audit sufficient properties to make it meaningful.

    They have a few tools at their disposal to narrow down the search for offenders

    1) No tax or government letters to an address
    2) Very low utility usage
    3) No rental agreement
    4) Knock on doors

    Just enough vetting needs to be done to make committing tax avoidance a potentially real problem for property owners.
    That would annoy me if someone knocked on my door to make sure I lived there....

    If I'm home or not , if I answer my door or not, is my business.

  7. #27

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    If it made sense to the HK government, of course they can find people to implement it. So many civil servants sitting around with nothing to do...

    In your particular loophole, rental income is stated on tax forms. If anything looks dodgy, they can investigate. And they don't need to catch them all. They just need to catch a few and set punishments high to deter others.

    In the UK, the Inland Revenue used to catch corporate tax cheats by sitting outside the shops and counting how many customers they had each night.

  8. #28

    I sense jealousy.

    shri likes this.

  9. #29

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    It becomes a bit of a cat and mouse game and it really depends on the will on both sides.

    If i'm the government and i see most rents in that building or area being about HK$ 10k, and there is one which is only $10, then that would set alarms ringing that somethings a bit dodgy.

    That may then be countered by a really rich landlord buying up a whole building and so all the rents are $10 and nothing looks strange. and so the cat and mouse game starts again.

  10. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by MandM!:
    That would annoy me if someone knocked on my door to make sure I lived there....

    If I'm home or not , if I answer my door or not, is my business.
    You really do have a dim view on Hong Kong Government.

    After checking a property for
    - addresses on file
    - rental contracts
    - utility usage

    You still think they would knock on your door!