Canton Obwalden wants to tax properties more fairly
Published: Tuesday, Oct 29th 2024, 10:50
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On November 24, the Obwalden electorate will vote on an amendment to the Valuation and Land Lien Act. The aim of the bill is to reduce existing inequalities in the taxation of real estate.
Land is taxable like other assets. The market value, gross tax value and net tax value are determined in the official property valuations. The gross taxable value corresponds to the value of a property as estimated by the tax authorities and the net taxable value is the value that is taken into account when calculating property tax. This is currently 65 percent of the gross tax value.
According to the Canton of Obwalden's voting message, property prices have risen sharply over the past 20 years, whereas the tax values for property tax have only been adjusted slightly. As a result, the current tax values of the properties are significantly lower than the actual market value.
Only landowners affected
The referendum bill provides for the "imbalance" to be reduced with an amendment to the Valuation and Land Lien Act by moderately increasing the tax values for non-agricultural properties. According to the dispatch, 20 percent of property owners are not affected by the bill. Around 80 percent of owners may be affected by an additional tax burden of less than 1.2 percent.
During the session, the Cantonal Council spoke out against leaving the net tax value at 65%. Instead, it was lowered to 60% in order to prevent a greater tax burden on the affected property owners.
The proposal also provides for ten instead of eight land value zones, as the previous eight zones did not adequately reflect the price range. In addition, the prices per square meter in the land value zones should no longer range between 100 and 800 francs, but between 200 and 1400 francs.
As a result of the legislative changes, the government expects estimated additional revenue of CHF 1.58 to 2.09 million in cantonal and municipal taxes. Around 60 percent of this will flow to the municipalities, while 40 percent will go to the canton.
©Keystone/SDA
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