Details on vacancy tax for Hong Kong flat hoarders coming in June
Source says tax would be collected through existing channel which would save administrative costs
The government is set to unveil details this month of a vacancy tax on property owners hoarding newly built flats that remain vacant as it seeks to find immediate as well as longer-term solutions to ease the city’s acute housing shortage.
A government source said the tax would be collected through an existing channel which would save administrative costs, but it was yet to be decided whether it would be in the form of a rates charge.
Officials would allow developers a reasonable time to sell their stock of flats, the source added.
The city’s powerful property developers said they would oppose such a tax, but if the government was “bent on introducing one regardless, it should at least consider” their recommendations, including imposing such charges on the second-hand market as well.
