No homeowner panic

Re: “Landowners panic over tax changes”, (BP, Dec 26).

There is no panic amongst homeowners now since the official notification publicised by the Fiscal Policy Office on Dec 25 clarified the position substantially. Previously, some property owners were worried that renting out a condominium or a second home could be interpreted as for commercial purpose and subject to a 0.3% tax rate for up to 50 million baht or 3,000 baht per 1 million baht worth of appraised price and not as a residence which is subject to 200 to 1,000 baht per 1 million. This caused panic among owners and the news was made worse by the fact that the change had to be made by today based on previous notices from various district offices which have now transpired to be illegal.

The Christmas Day notification from the Finance Ministry with the cooperation of the Interior Ministry was short and beautifully written. With one sentence, it clarifies that the classification of “commercial” or “residence” depends on the manner of usage of the property. Usage is the keyword. It concluded that an owner renting out directly to a tenant for the use of the property is regarded as a residence while those owners having to rely on a system like home-sharing hosts via Airbnb is regarded as commercial. It emphasises the word “usage” of the property that clears up the clouds, almost making the great rush on Friday 27th completely unnecessary.

SONGDEJ PRADITSMANONT