The Taichung City Government Local Tax Bureau has said that, following transferrals of land and property such as land purchases, inheritance, and donations, new landowners often forget to apply for the 0.002% tax rate levied on the owner-occupied residential land land value tax – leading to them paying the 0.010% tax rate applicable for general-use land.

The tax bureau says that the owner-occupied residential land system refers to all the owners of the land and their spouses. Immediate family can register for land ownership – excluding land that is to be rented or used for commercial purposes – and land rights are limited to the owner, their spouse and dependents under the age of 18. For foreigners with an alien resident permit whose registered place of residence is land and property they hold themselves, this will be treated as household registration. For land for which authorization has been granted for a tax levy on owner-occupied residential land land value tax, regardless of whether the method of transferral is sale, inheritance or donation, if all the legal owners of the land are changed, and the tax rate for owner-occupied residential land has not been re-submitted, tax will be levied according to general land use tax rates.

The bureau would like to specially remind taxpayers to please remember to re-apply their submission within 40 days of the land tax levy (which is to say September 22 – because this day falls on a Sunday, the submission date has been extended to September 23) after registering the transferral of land rights. The tax rate for owner-occupied residential land comes into effect following approval, and for late applicants the application period begins the following year.