{"id":794293,"date":"2024-10-13T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-13T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=794293"},"modified":"2024-10-13T13:27:15","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T11:27:15","slug":"massive-property-tax-headache-for-south-africa-the-third-worst-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/property\/794293\/massive-property-tax-headache-for-south-africa-the-third-worst-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive property tax headache for South Africa – the third worst in the world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa is ranked the third-worst country in the world regarding property tax and other associated costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is according to UK-based relocation experts at 1st Move International Removals, who analysed each country’s highest average property tax rates to identify those likely to cost investors the most money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, Singapore’s property taxes are the highest globally, averaging 35.58%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The high property tax includes costs such as an extreme 68.45% roundtrip transaction cost on rental properties, making the city-state one of the more expensive places to own property. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, Singapore’s strong demand for real estate and reputation as a global financial hub continue to attract investors, even with its higher tax rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belgium comes second, with an average property tax rate of 24%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes a substantial 50% income tax, one of the highest in Europe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1st Move International removals said that although Belgium\u2019s property market offers stability, the combination of high income and property taxes adds to the investment cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa comes out to third, with an average property tax rate of 23.12%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is slightly lower than Belgium’s, with the country’s 45% income tax and increased transaction costs presenting challenges for property investors nationwide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Despite this, South Africa\u2019s growing demand for housing offers opportunities for long-term investment returns,” said 1st Move International removals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The highest property taxes, including buying and selling costs, in the world can be found below: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rank<\/strong><\/td>Country<\/strong><\/td>Income Tax <\/strong>on Rent<\/strong><\/td>Roundtrip Transaction Cost<\/strong><\/td>Buying <\/strong>Costs<\/strong><\/td>Selling <\/strong>Costs<\/strong><\/td>Corporate <\/strong>Tax<\/strong><\/td>Average Property Tax<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
1<\/td>Singapore<\/td>24.00%<\/td>68.45%<\/td>66.45%<\/td>2.00%<\/td>17.00%<\/td>35.58%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>Belgium<\/td>50.00%<\/td>22.50%<\/td>17.50%<\/td>5.00%<\/td>25.00%<\/td>24.00%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>South Africa<\/td>45.00%<\/td>21.80%<\/td>14.30%<\/td>7.50%<\/td>27.00%<\/td>23.12%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>UK<\/td>47.00%<\/td>18.60%<\/td>15.10%<\/td>3.50%<\/td>26.50%<\/td>22.14%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>France<\/td>45.00%<\/td>19.31%<\/td>14.31%<\/td>5.00%<\/td>25.00%<\/td>21.72%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>Luxembourg<\/td>45.78%<\/td>16.00%<\/td>13.00%<\/td>3.00%<\/td>24.94%<\/td>20.54%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>Austria<\/td>55.00%<\/td>11.60%<\/td>9.60%<\/td>2.00%<\/td>24.00%<\/td>20.44%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
8<\/td>India<\/td>30.00%<\/td>11.50%<\/td>9.50%<\/td>2.00%<\/td>43.00%<\/td>19.20%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
9<\/td>Netherlands<\/td>36.00%<\/td>16.90%<\/td>14.90%<\/td>2.00%<\/td>25.80%<\/td>19.12%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
10<\/td>Canada<\/td>25.00%<\/td>11.00%<\/td>4.00%<\/td>7.00%<\/td>48.00%<\/td>19.00%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Worst countries to buy property <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The relocation experts noted that Belgium is the worst country to invest in real estate, scoring 2.9 out of 10. The placement is unsurprising, as the government has one of the highest roundtrip transaction costs, at 22.50%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

France came in second place with a score of 3.21, and its corporate tax of 25% is on the higher end compared to other countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greece is in third with a score of 3.76. The country is in the top 10 with one of the highest average rental income tax rates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa comes in fourth in the global study, with a score of 3.77. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa is on the higher end of corporate and income tax measures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other end of the scale, Lithuania is the number one choice as the best country for real estate investment, scoring 7.10 out of 10. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Despite real estate prices rising in recent years, investments in this location remain relevant as properties are unlikely to lose value and are a protection against inflation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best and worst countries to invest in property can be found in the graphics below: <\/p>\n\n\n

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Read<\/strong>: Alarm bells for South Africa\u2019s car industry \u2013 with some hope around the corner<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buying property in South Africa is extremely expensive, with some of the highest taxes and transaction costs in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":669973,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12755],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-794293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794293"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":795144,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794293\/revisions\/795144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}