(Taichung News) The newly amended House Tax Act, which imposes higher taxes on houses that are not owner-occupied, is set to take effect soon. Given that this is the first year of implementation, to reduce the impact, the Taichung City Government’s Local Tax Bureau had suggested last year to the central government that the deadline for updating household registration and usage for owner-occupied houses be extended. This suggestion received nationwide support, and the Ministry of Finance announced on April 25, 2025, that the deadline will be extended to June 2. The bureau is urging those who have not yet updated their household registration and submitted their declaration to complete the process before the extended deadline.
Director Shen Zheng-an of the Local Tax Bureau noted that the newly amended House Tax Act will most significantly affect houses that are not owner-occupied. If an owner-occupied house fails to register the household under the owner, his/her spouse, or immediate family members and make a declaration by the deadline, it will be taxed as a non-owner-occupied house. The tax will be calculated based on the number of households owned nationwide, with rates ranging from 3.2% to 4.8%. To alleviate the burden on taxpayers, the Local Tax Bureau reminds that there are several ways to reduce taxes: register your houses as owner-occupied houses, own only one owner-occupied house nationwide, rent out your houses for public welfare or social housing through rental management services, or rent out your houses and declare rental income by yourself.
Director Shen explained that to reduce taxes, taxpayers should first make sure that their owner-occupied houses are properly registered, as this qualifies for a preferential tax rate of 1.2%. If the owner, his/her spouse, or minor children own only one owner-occupied house nationwide, they can benefit from an even lower tax rate of 1.0% after registering the household under their names. Taxpayers can also consider the following options to rent out idle houses and enjoy better tax rates: (1) Rent out for public welfare or social housing, both of which are taxed at the same rate as owner-occupied houses, 1.2%. (2) Rent out through rental management services, where a fixed tax rate applies. If the declared rental income reaches the amount specified in the relevant regulations, the tax rate will be 1.5%, but if not declared or below the specified amount, the rate will be 2%. (3) Rent out independently and, if the rental income reaches the amount specified, file the declaration with the tax authorities within the specified timeframe. This allows the houses to be counted with jointly owned houses acquired through inheritance for calculating the total taxable houses nationwide, applying a reduced tax rate: 1.5% for up to four houses, 2.0% for five to six houses, and 2.4% for seven or more houses.
The Tax Bureau added that the specified rental income is based on a specific percentage of the house’s assessed value, plus 1.2% of the announced land value. According to the Ministry of Finance’s most recent 2024 Local General Rental Standards for Houses and Land, for houses in Taichung City that adopted the new standard unit price after July 1, 2018, the calculation is based on 10% of the assessed current value of the house; for houses that adopted the former standard unit price before June 30, 2018, the calculation is based on 25% of the assessed current value. In both cases, an additional 1.2% of the announced land value will be added to the rental standard.