Avoid use of ‘property types’ to sharpen tax

I refer to the letter “Make property tax fairer” (July 13). There are two ways to go about having a property tax: One is to fix the tax on the property’s capital value, and the other, on the rental value.

The latter has had lower tax increases than if capital values were used. And over the years, the Comptroller of Property Tax has given concessions to property owners in the form of owner-occupation versus leasing, tax rebates, exemptions and differential rates.

The tax could be sharpened, though, by avoiding the use of “property types” in the form of public and private homes, for not all rents of public flats are less than private ones, particularly when rent depends on location.

From Patrick Sio

Source : Today – 2012 Jul 31