China makes ‘steady progress’ on draft property tax law
- Work has started on the legislation, which will be a major priority of the National People’s Congress
Work on a draft property tax in China is “steadily advancing” and legislation will be submitted for review when conditions are right, senior Chinese parliamentary officials said on Saturday.
China has considered a property tax for more than a decade, with market speculation of its implementation rearing its head every few years.
China will “focus energy” on implementing major legislative items this year including a property tax, the head of the country’s largely rubber-stamp National People’s Congress said on Friday, without giving details.
Liu Junchen, deputy head of NPC Standing Committee’s Legislative Affairs Commission, said on Saturday that work had started on such a law.
“The relevant side is now studying the drafting of the real estate tax law, and relevant work is steadily advancing,” Liu said, without elaborating.
A black Friday in China as exports shrink, stocks plunge and homeowners face new taxes
Deputy head of the NPC’s Finance and Economic Committee Uzhitu, an ethnic Mongolian who goes by only one name, added that the tax was being drafted by parliament’s budget committee and the Finance Ministry.
At present, relevant departments were perfecting the draft law and discussing “important issues” related to it, he added.
“When the conditions are ripe, it will be submitted to the NPC Standing Committee for initial review,” Uzhitu said, though did not give a time frame.
The idea of a tax has met with resistance from stakeholders, including local governments that rely heavily on land sales as a key source of financing.
Pilot property tax schemes were introduced in cities such as Shanghai and Chongqing, but the glacial progress to roll it out nationwide drew criticism as home prices continued to rise.
Beijing appears to be getting closer to consensus on how and when to unveil a nationwide property tax
In October last year, the official news agency Xinhua reported that a “long-term mechanism” for the property market – including the potential introduction of a nationwide property tax – was being studied.
Prices of homes in major Chinese cities have stabilised in the past year after several waves of purchase curbs to deter speculators.
