INACCURATE?A real-estate agent said the figure for single-person households might be inflated due to a new preferential taxes for owner-occupied homesBy Hsu Yi-ping / Staff reporter請繼續往下閱讀...The number of single-person households nationwide reached about 3,993,100 last year, accounting for 40.5 percent of all registered households, Ministry of the Interior data showed.Single-person households have become the dominant structure in Taiwan, exceeding the combined share of two-person and three-person households for the first time, the data showed.There were 8.933 million households nationwide in 2020, of which single-person households accounted for about 34 percent, two-person households about 20.5 percent and three-person households about 18.1 percent, ministry statistics showed.The combined share of two-person and three-person households had accounted for about 38.6 percent, about 4.6 percentage points higher than single-person households.However, the total number of households nationwide increased to about 9.85 million last year, marking a substantial growth of about 917,000 households in five years.During the same period, the number of single-person households surged by 951,100, significantly exceeding the growth in total households over the same time span.The proportion of single-person households rose sharply to 40.5 percent last year, exceeding the combined share of two-person and three-person households at 38.19 percent, the data showed.Asked why single-person households are becoming the dominant structure in Taiwan, a real estate agent said that on top of the main factors — non-marriage and childlessness — there are also other connected factors, such as the nation’s super-aged society.Sinyi Realty Inc （信義房屋） research and development department project manager Tseng Ching-te （曾敬德） said that over the past few years, there have been fewer marriages — about 100,000 to 120,000 — compared with the 120,000 to 170,000 new housing units completed each year.The growth rate of single-person households is significantly outpacing the number of marriages and new housing unit handovers each year, he said.Aside from home purchases by single people, a new house tax policy that took effect in 2024 might have been another factor, Tseng said.The policy raises tax for hoarding multiple houses, he said, adding that tax collection for it started last year.To qualify for preferential taxes for self-occupied homes, owners must complete household registration for the property, Tseng said.Given that taxes on newer properties are higher, the policy has prompted a wave of household registrations, so the number of single-person households between 2023 and last year might be inflated, he added.新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
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