Parliament extends housing tax relief until the end of June, but controversy persists
Maria Ziegler, Unsplash
The Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies has decided to extend the main package of tax incentives for investment housing until 30 June 2025. The decision is retroactive to 1 January 2025. The measures include an increase in the non-taxable threshold for notarisation of transactions, reduced registration fees, a reduced capital gains tax rate and an extended accelerated depreciation scheme.
Although the increase in the registration threshold - the so-called Bëllegen Akt - was unanimously supported by all 60 MPs, the other measures only passed with the votes of the ruling coalition, ADR and the Pirate Party. Pirate leader Sven Clement said this was the last time his party supported the measures.
Finance Minister Gilles Roth, speaking on RTL and to Parliament, confirmed: the extension until the end of June is final. The only exception is the increase in the registration threshold from €30,000 to €40,000. He called on "speculators" to behave responsibly and take advantage of the measures before the deadline. The announcement was welcomed by Green MP and former housing minister Sam Tanson.
However, Tanson, as well as MPs from the Left and LSAP, sharply criticised the measures, calling them one-sided "gifts" to investors. Franz Fayot of the LSAP said the package increases inequality and distorts competition. He emphasised that the measures are necessary, but primarily for those who build or buy homes for their own use.
The Greens also pointed to the lack of promised reforms to the property tax and mobilisation tax to encourage the use of vacant lots. In response, Roth assured that the reforms were being worked on and the agencies involved, including the cadastre, were working at full capacity.
Despite their differences, all parties agreed on one thing: a transparent database on the structure of property prices is needed. Even the political opponents, Minister Roth and Socialist Fayot, agreed on this. CSV MP Michel Wolter added that transparency should not only be at the national level, but also include comparisons with neighbouring countries. He said even his home commune of Keschreng can no longer afford to buy land because of rising prices.
The Minister concluded by suggesting that the House write to Prime Minister Luc Frieden asking him to accelerate the mobilisation of all the bodies involved to improve access to information and monitoring of the housing market.
