An increase in appeal cases related to property price appraisals is expected after the land and buildings tax comes into force next year, says the Treasury Department.
The change in land appraisal method from blocks to individual land parcels after the enforcement of the new property tax will make appraisal prices of two plots with the same size and the same area different and could lead to disagreement among landlords, said director-general Amnuay Preemonwong.
The new property tax will take into account building size and create discrepancies in the appraisal prices of two plots that are the same size, Mr Amnuay said.
To make it easier for local administrative officers to appraise buildings and reduce variance, the department has standardised 31 building models and set reference appraisal prices for these models, he said.
The land and buildings tax, scheduled to come into force on Jan 1, 2020, will replace the house and land tax and the local development tax, which have drawn criticism for being outdated.
According to the new tax structure, land and buildings used for residences with appraisal prices of up to 50 million baht will be tax-exempt for principal homes, while those valued at 50-75 million baht will be taxed at 0.03%, 75-100 million baht at 0.05% and 100 million baht or above at 0.1%.
If owners have more than one home, the second and subsequent residences will be subject to 0.02% tax for those with an appraisal price of up to 50 million baht. The same tax rate will be applied to principal homes with appraisal prices above 50 million baht.
Principal homes are defined as residences where the owners' names are listed on the household registration.
Farmland, vacant land and land for commercial and industrial use will also be taxed.
For example, land used for commercial and industrial purposes will see a tax rate of 0.3% for property worth up to 50 million baht, 0.4% on land worth 50-200 million baht, 0.5% for land valued between 200 million baht and 1 billion baht, 0.6% on land with a price tag of 1-5 billion baht and 0.7% on land worth 5 billion baht and above.
A mere 1-2% of 30 million land parcels nationwide have appealed appraisal prices in the past, Mr Amnuay said.
To prepare for the possibility of a rise in appeals, the Treasury Department has amended laws to streamline the process and authorise a subcommittee in each province to consider and finalise appeals.
At present, appeal cases relevant to land appraisal prices are determined by a central committee chaired by the finance permanent secretary.