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Tax-driven Bunching of Housing Market Transactions: The case of Hong Kong

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  • Leung, Charles Ka Yui
  • Leung, Tommy Tin Cheuk
  • Tsang, Byron Kwok Ping

Abstract

We study the implications of property market transaction tax. As property buyers are obligated to pay a transaction tax (“stamp duty”, or SD) where the rate increases with the value of the transaction, there are incentives to trade at or just below the cutoff points of the tax schedule. Thus, both “bunching in transactions” and “underpricing” should be observed near those cutoffs. Furthermore, the bunching points should change with the tax schedule. We confirm these conjectures with a rich dataset from the Hong Kong housing market and provide a measure of the tax avoidance.

Suggested Citation

  • Leung, Charles Ka Yui & Leung, Tommy Tin Cheuk & Tsang, Byron Kwok Ping, 2014. "Tax-driven Bunching of Housing Market Transactions: The case of Hong Kong," MPRA Paper 53729, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:53729
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    Cited by:

    1. Haiwei Chen, 2017. "Real Estate Transfer Taxes and Housing Price Volatility in the United States," International Real Estate Review, Global Social Science Institute, vol. 20(2), pages 207-219.
    2. Daisy J. Huang & Charles Ka Yui Leung & Chung-Yi Tse, 2018. "What Accounts for the Differences in Rent-Price Ratio and Turnover Rate? A Search-and-Matching Approach," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 431-475, October.
    3. Charles Ka Yui Leung & Joe Cho Yiu Ng & Edward Tang, 2020. "Why is the Hong Kong Housing Market Unaffordable? Some Stylized Facts and Estimations," Globalization Institute Working Papers 380, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    4. Charles Ka Yui Leung, 2015. "Availability, Affordability and Volatility: The Case of the Hong Kong Housing Market," International Real Estate Review, Global Social Science Institute, vol. 18(3), pages 383-428.
    5. Edward C. H. Tang, 2024. "Examining the Impacts of the Pandemic on the Housing Bubble in Hong Kong," Advances in Decision Sciences, Asia University, Taiwan, vol. 28(1), pages 27-46, March.
    6. Edward C. H. Tang, 2021. "Speculate a lot," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 91-109, February.
    7. Yanke Dai & Yangfei Xu, 2022. "Cheating under Regulation: Evidence from “Yin-and-Yang” Contracts on Beijing’s Housing Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-29, October.
    8. Wong, Siu Kei & Cheung, Ka Shing & Deng, Kuang Kuang & Chau, Kwong Wing, 2021. "Policy responses to an overheated housing market: Credit tightening versus transaction taxes," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    bunching; change in nonlinear tax schedule; housing market; tax avoidance and tax evasion; underpricing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand

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