Effective Vacancy Tax Law Amendment Passed - Greenpeace Calls for Quick Implementation and Social-ecological Use of Tax Proceeds

2024-04-18 04:00:17

Amendment to the law on vacancy taxes passed yesterday – Greenpeace demands that effective taxes be implemented quickly and tax proceeds be used for social-ecological purposes

Vienna (OTS) – A current Greenpeace calculation
(https://act.gp/Factsheet-Leerstandsabgabe) shows: One
Vacancy levy could bring in tax revenue of up to 1.7 billion euros. With a funding rate of 50 percent, around 37,000 old apartments could be completely renovated every year. Yesterday, the National Council passed an amendment to the law that will enable the federal states to collect an effective vacancy tax in the future. Greenpeace demands that this be implemented as quickly as possible. Likewise, the tax revenue must be exclusively earmarked and used for expenses incurred as well as social-ecological purposes, according to the environmental protection organization.

Melanie Ebner, soil protection spokeswoman at Greenpeace: “Greenpeace recently showed that around 230,000 apartments are empty in Austria. With an ambitious vacancy tax, housing speculation and massive land consumption can be significantly reduced. Numerous international examples show that a vacancy tax can be implemented with the necessary political will.”

Greenpeace has calculated, based on international models, that a vacancy levy could bring in up to 1.7 billion euros in tax revenue. Even if a vacancy tax is set less ambitiously – along the lines of a tax that already existed in Vienna in 1985 – it could bring in 1.1 billion euros in tax revenue. The levy must always take social and regional circumstances into account. For example, commuter apartments or vacant apartments in areas of migration should not be equated with speculative properties or holiday villas that have been empty for months. Therefore, in order to ensure fair taxation, socially accurate exceptions must also be included.

“Especially in tourist regions, there is a lot of living space that is only used for a few days a year. As a result, housing is becoming increasingly expensive for the local population. At the same time, land is being sealed unabated in order to create overpriced new living space – while houses right next to it are often empty almost all year round,” says Ebner. Greenpeace is demanding that the federal states implement an effective vacancy tax as quickly as possible. The tax revenue must be used for social-ecological purposes such as Unsealing projects, renovation and renovation of old buildings must be dedicated to a specific purpose.

Factsheet and graphic on the topic:
https://act.gp/Factsheet-Leerstandsabgabe