Economist Weighs in on New Bill to Tax ‘Frequent Transactions’ in Real Estate Market

The government’s bill on taxing frequent housing transactions can be considered the beginning of a new round of measures aimed at managing the housing market. The government hopes to control speculative transactions and control home prices by passing the bill. If approved by the parliament, buyers of homes and plots of land with residential use have to pay 60% of the profit from the price increase to the government as tax if they sell their properties within the first year of ownership. In the second year, the tax rate decreases to 40%. Naser Zakeri, economist, prefaced his write-up for Persian daily Shargh with this note. Below is a translation of the text. 
Regardless of the effects of the implementation of this new move, the step taken by the government to pass this bill is commendable for two reasons: it acknowledges that the government has duties in the housing market and must come out of the inaction phase and disregard for the seismic developments of the market.