A wave of Taiwanese homeowners is transferring property to their husband or wife to cut taxes, and the practice is now so common it accounts for well over a third of all gifted property — good for families with savvy accountants, bad for tax revenue.

• Attention landed on a Tainan storefront tied to former president Chen Shui-bian's daughter Chen Hsing-yu, which was signed over to her ex-husband Chao Chien-ming as a spousal gift.
• Gifts between spouses are completely exempt from gift tax in Taiwan, no matter how large the property.
• Spousal transfers have climbed every year and now make up 43% of all gift registrations, a record — roughly one in every 2.33.
• The real draw is the land value increment tax: each spouse gets a once-in-a-lifetime discounted rate, so an owner who already used theirs can transfer the home and sell at half the tax rate.
• Taoyuan has topped 50% for three straight years, New Taipei records the most cases, and Kaohsiung sits lowest at about 37%.

Outlook: With more than 15,000 spousal property gifts a year and no sign of the loophole closing, the numbers look set to keep climbing.