Real Property Tax in the Countries of Visegrad Group – Comparative View

Abstract

Real property tax belongs to traditional taxes, often imposed as a local tax. The same applies to V4 countries (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland), however, the budgetary significance of its revenues differs across these states and so does their approach to its regulation. In this research article, the authors deeper analyse the budgetary significance of the tax in particular V4 states in terms of selected criteria (ratio to GDP, other local taxes, tax and total revenues of local government), and then the legal regulation of the tax applied in these states in the context of its current and potential impact on acquired tax revenues. The data shows that the overall revenues of the tax in comparison with the total revenues of local government do not represent a significant value, however, from the viewpoint of municipal budgets, research on the tax potential is justified as it is the most important local tax in three of the states. We found that the budgetary significance of real property tax differs among the V4 countries with the highest importance in Poland. Based on the legislation analysis, we identified differences among V4 members, with the greatest potential for legislative improvements in the countries with lower tax revenues. The results of the research may create the basis for further research of the tax potential in V4 countries as well as for application practice (besides pro futuro legislative changes, more efficient tax collection and more objective real estate taxation).

Keywords: real property tax; tax revenue; Slovakia; Czech Republic; Hungary; Poland

JEL Classification: K34, H70