[karma_pharmer]

Long-term rentals aren't typically taxed heavily. Since the tax is simply passed on to the tenant, you're just taxing the poor.

Frankly, owner-occupied vs renter-occupied is not a helpful distinction here. Instead, tax short-term rentals heavily and leave year-or-more rentals as they are. Bonus feature: you don't have a massive database listing where everybody sleeps at night, including domestic violence victims, sitting around on some poorly-secured government server.

If the problem is properties left empty the solution is simple: raise property taxes and credit the collected amount back on VAT/sales/income tax (depending on country) so the end result is revenue-neutral. Yes, the property tax will be passed on to tenants, but those tenants also enjoy the reduced VAT tax. For an empty apartment nobody recieves any counterbalancing benefit.