2024-09-04 09:54:02
The request for a property tax is neither thoughtful nor fair. The middle class bears the tax burden and ownership creates wealth equality. “Austria’s tax rate is 43.6%, ranking fourth in the EU and is a high-tax country,” ÖHGB Chairman Dr. RA pointed out. Martin Prenbauer
Worse still is the increasingly unequal distribution of the tax burden. On the one hand, the real wage and income tax burdens are borne by fewer and fewer people; on the other hand, the number of net beneficiaries of high transfer payments is increasing. According to OECD data, Austrian transfer payments accounted for 40% of household disposable income in 2020. Few other countries have higher rates. The fact is that reallocation is only funded by those who actually pay into the system.
Income and tax statistics from Statistics Austria
The top 20% of taxpayers bear 77% of the total net wage and income tax burden. 55% received 4.5 times more from transfers than they paid. “Putting additional burdens on taxpayers through property taxes is not only unfair, but will further hollow out the middle class. “Don’t even think about the negative impact on the economy,” Prenbauer warned. “Measures should not be designed to make social progress more difficult, but should be aimed at promoting wealth creation. The acquisition of property in particular plays an important role.
An international comparison of wealth taxes
Across the country, there is a growing recognition that property taxes are ineffective and harmful. Nine European countries, including Germany, Denmark and Sweden, have abolished such taxes in recent decades. Norway is the latest example of the negative effects of a wealth tax: small increases in taxes lead to capital flight, resulting in tax revenues falling sharply rather than increasing as expected. “Ideological blinding is counterproductive and helps no one. What we urgently need is an economic outlook for the future, not further fairy tales of burdens and redistribution,” Prenbauer said.
More information about ÖHGB
Austrian House and Land Owners Association (ÖHGB, www.oehgb.at) is the largest voluntary interest group for house, property and apartment owners in Austria. The main mission of the ÖHGB is to protect and promote private property and protect the common interests of private property owners. Approximately 30,000 members are organized into nine regional associations, which provide their members with evidence-based legal, tax, insurance, construction and financing advice and a wide range of other information and services. Furthermore, ÖHGB and its regional associations pursue an active professional policy in representing interests at all levels in order to safeguard the interests of its members.
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