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Comment by crushcrashcrush | Hacker News Reader

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crushcrashcrush·

We need to tax foreign-owned, non-owner-occupied properties in the San Francisco Bay Area. Some sort of scale:

Foreign Owned, Non-Owner Occupied - 10% Per Year of Assessed Value

Foreign Owned, Non-Occupied - 25% Per Year

Foreign Owned, Owner Occupied - 0% Per year

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Your percentages are a bit extreme, but in general, I think this policy would do a world of good toward moving housing back from an investment vehicle to primarily being treated as functional places to live. I think the percentages should apply to domestic non-occupied as well.

A vacancy tax is so obvious that there must be some political reason that it's not being discussed in SF. I'm not sure I'd restrict it to foreign owners, holding empty property is a negative externality no matter where the owner lives.

Or, you know, start taxing all properties based on fair market value.

True, phasing out prop 13 would help a lot.

Agreed! Prop 13 needs to die.

Or we can just start companies in places other than the Bay Area.

How can governments identify which properties are foreign owned when companies incorporated abroad can buy real estate via local arms and byzntine holding structures?

Why should it? Owner proves to be US citizen (and not a legal "person" aka fictional entity incorporated in Delaware), or pays the tax, simple.

Or how about levying State income tax on them?

That would be a great start as well.

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