Motion in the state parliament

Building land levy: ÖVP calls for “emergency brake”

A tax is to be levied on unused building plots in Burgenland (symbolic image).

(Bild: Marco2811 - stock.adobe.com)

The ÖVP Burgenland is submitting a motion to the state parliament to abolish the building land levy. A quote from Governor Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ) is cited as justification for the initiative. 

It is well known that the People's Party is mobilizing against the building land tax. Club leader Markus Ulram spoke of a "series of breakdowns". For example, the Spatial Planning Act will be amended again in the fall - for the tenth time in this legislative period.

ÖVP Club Leader Markus Ulraum and Regional Managing Director Patrik Fazekas want to stop the levy.

(Bild: Philipp Wagner)

At the same time, they referred to a recent survey commissioned by the ÖVP, according to which 52% of respondents are against a "building land tax". "People are not prepared to plug the country's financial holes," says Ulram. The People's Party is therefore tabling an urgent motion in the next session of the provincial parliament. "The emergency brake must be pulled," says the club leader.

Reference to Doskozil quote
It was surprising that SPÖ Governor Hans Peter Doskozil was identified as a possible supporter of the initiative in the state parliament. According to Patrik Fazekas, the Turkish state managing director, he had spoken out against the tax in an ORF summer interview. When asked about a wealth tax, he replied: "If I, as a working person, bought a property with my wages, my salary, where I pay income tax, and then at the end of the day I have to pay tax on it again, then I would not accept that." With the motion in parliament, Fazekas now wants to invite Doskozil to abolish the building land tax.

"If I, as a working person, were to buy a plot of land today with my wages, my salary, where I pay income tax, and then get taxed on it again at the end of the day, then I wouldn't understand that."

Landeshauptmann Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ) zum Thema Vermögenssteuern

"ÖVP wants building land to become a luxury good"

However, the ÖVP initiative is unlikely to be successful: "The aim of our building land mobilization initiative is to create affordable building land for the broad majority of the population," said the office of state leader Doskozil when asked. The ÖVP Burgenland wants exactly the opposite - namely for building land to become a luxury good so that only a few rich people can afford to build their own home.

More than 200 agreements to mobilize building land have been concluded in recent weeks. Turkish-led federal states have also introduced such levies or are preparing to do so. It is telling that the ÖVP is ignoring these facts and falsely labeling an important steering measure as a "tax". "In doing so, it is harming all families who want to build something for themselves in Burgenland," it said.