Perception of Housing Taxation in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Housing taxation is considered the most obvious tax system inequity. Therefore, this type of taxation should be in line with the benefit principle. This article examines the attitudes of citizens towards residential building taxation in the Czech Republic. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the perception of residential building tax burden by taxpayers who own a house or apartment for housing based on primary research. The research was conducted in the Czech Republic using a questionnaire in 2021 and 2022. Differences in the tax burden perception in relation to improvements in quality of life in a municipality and use of compensation by providing financial benefit in favor of resident citizens are investigated in the context of municipality size. It was found that the majority of respondents in all municipality size categories perceived the tax burden as reasonable. Citizens' positive attitudes towards the taxation of their residential buildings were influenced not only by the quality-of-life improvement in the municipality, but also by the transparency of the municipality's financial management. By compensating for the tax on residential buildings through providing a financial benefit, some municipalities reduced the tax burden for their resident citizens and shifted the tax burden, within the limits of the law, to buildings for business and recreation. The most common forms of financial benefits included reducing or eliminating municipal waste fees.