Farmland Not Used for Farming: Yilan to Impose Additional House Tax

The Yilan County Government's Local Tax Bureau estimates that about 2,300 cases are eligible, with total additional tax revenue of 46 million. This tax increase policy was proposed by the county government in the 104th year of the Republic of China [2015] to the county's "Real Estate Appraisal Committee" and was finalized after the committee's assessment. Under the committee's rule of assessing once every 3 years, the policy of heavier house tax for farmland not used for farming will be implemented for at least 3 years, that is, from the 105th to the 108th year of the Republic of China [2016 to 2019], making it very difficult for the policy to change.

B&B Operators Have Something to Say

After the tax increase order was issued, the lodging industry was furious. Ms. Huang, who runs a bed-and-breakfast in Yilan, said that this year's house tax instantly doubled, from more than 30,000 to more than 70,000. "Honestly, it's frustrating. Back then I built according to the county government's regulations and obtained a construction license; the whole process was legal, and now they say I'm in the wrong. The B&B occupancy rate keeps falling, and many illegal B&Bs are everywhere. Those are the operators the county government should be reporting."

Another B&B operator accepted the outcome calmly. Ms. Zeng said, "I grow vegetables in my backyard. Behind the vegetable garden is low-lying land, so I built a retaining wall and piled up fill soil. But now the county government says this is wrong and I have to pay 8,000 yuan more in tax. As long as it's within my means, I just have to accept it. But restoring it to its original state would be very hard. We've lived here for 7 or 8 years, and many small farmers now rent land to farm. After all, growing rice earns only 10,000 yuan a month, so it's very hard to actually buy land."

Tax Increase Method Is More Effective; Some Have Already Applied for Improvement

However, this tax increase policy does not force violators to make improvements within a set deadline or return the land to agricultural use. After violators pay the heavier house tax, they can still maintain the current use.

But if they wish to reduce the house tax, they can apply to the county government for improvement, tearing down illegal walls, garden landscaping, reducing the area of illegal fill soil and so on. According to statistics from the county government's Local Tax Bureau, since taxation began in May, 10 cases have filed applications.

Yang Huaiju, section chief of the Agriculture Affairs Section of the Yilan County Agriculture Department, said that in the past, violators were fined 60,000 yuan under the Regional Plan Act and required to make improvements, but the operators were unaffected and even treated it as a regular fee. Now the direct tax increase is very direct, impossible to dodge. Through this means, operators have become more aware that using low-cost agricultural land to build houses requires paying a price in land.

Farmers Welcome the Tax Increase but It Doesn't Address the Root Cause; Only Government Review and Thorough Enforcement Are Fundamental

In response, Yang Wenquan, former Yilan County Agriculture Department director who has since stepped down and returned to farming, said that the county government's heavier taxation measure is the minimum fairness and justice, but the tax increase treats the symptoms, not the root cause, because the tax increase is tantamount to indirectly recognizing it as a house. The most important thing is still to thoroughly enforce the law and make fake farmhouses return to agricultural use.

Wu Shaowen, a member of the Guardian of Yilan Workshop, believes that if the county government is going to impose heavier taxes on illegal operators, it should also bear responsibility for having led the way in encouraging investment and issuing too many farmhouse construction licenses back then. "Farmland should return to agricultural use, and paying more tax is as it should be. But the county government should explain and compensate for its past policy mistakes, rather than simply making the public foot the entire bill."