Countries Should Keep Property Valuations Current, OECD Says

Inefficient domestic property tax systems in wealthy countries mean governments miss out on revenue and fail to fairly tax housing , the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a report Thursday.

Countries rely on outdated property valuations when levying recurrent housing taxes, while taxing property transactions too much and taxing capital gains from housing sales too little, the report said.

These shortcomings lead to lower revenue than would be generated if property valuations were up to date, result in people staying in homes that are no longer suitable, and favor the wealthiest households, the report added.

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