Landlords should have to pay income tax on their rental properties regardless of whether they're rented out or not. ( gothamist.com )

SpaceCadet , 10 months ago

That’s how it is here in Belgium. I pay tax on the income I would get if I would rent out my apartment, even when I’m actually living in it.

Luckily the amounts are based on rent prices as they were in 1975. It’s indexed, which means it gets adjusted for (general) inflation, but not for the increased prices in the housing market which is much higher than inflation.

DessertStorms , 10 months ago

Luckily

for landlords.
Not for the tax pot and the general good.

SpaceCadet , 10 months ago

No not for landlords, for homeowners. As it is, it’s just an unfair tax that increases the cost of homeownership, making it unattainable for lower incomes. If they wanted to target landlords, they should tax actual rent income instead.

Of course, no tax ever gets abolished because the government starts to rely on it in their budget, so we’ll be stuck with this forever.

flan , 10 months ago

why is that lucky?