The head of the Treasury Department has announced that they expect a 30 percent increase in Thailand’s property transfer fees. This follows the full implementation of land appraisal prices being based on individual land plots, The Nation reported.
“Transfer fees will rise by 30-50 billion baht when the entire 32 million land plots are individually appraised,” director-General Chakkrit Parapantakul stated. “The appraisal prices on eight million plots of land that have been valued are 30% higher than their current prices based on the lot and block system. These higher appraisal prices will push up transfer fees in addition to the higher tax revenue generated when the land and buildings tax comes into force.”
A further modification to the land and buildings tax bill was made last week by Finance Minister Sommai Phasee. Taxing will be based in the value of the buildings, but the collection of those taxes would begin three years following the enforcement of the law. These steps follow the ministry’s previous discussion of reducing public complaints by exempting the value of buildings from the property tax. It is anticipated that the bill will go before the cabinet for approval in the coming weeks.
According to the newspaper, there had been heavy criticism of the house and land tax as well as the local development tax. They had been viewed being regressive due to them having too many waivers and were established on outdated appraisal prices. The land and buildings tax has been designed to replace these measures and increases local organizations revenue while reducing the government need to provide financial support.
According to Chakkrit, the department has zeroed in on 2016 as the year when individual appraisals of land will be completed. This number is down from an initial eight years anticipated to complete the project. The department anticipates appraisal prices increasing by 25 percent on average over the course of the next four years. The appraisal values are expected to soar in special economic zones and in places like Nonthaburi’s Bang Bua Thong district and Sukhumvit road that are served by public transport.
