Property Tax Aimed Only at High-End Residences

BEIJING, June 13 -- A source within the State Administration of Taxation confirmed Saturday that proposals have been received on property taxes from the Shanghai and Chongqing governments, arousing more speculation about when taxes will be levied.

But property tax programs under review by cities across the country are going to be aimed at high-end residences and owners who have more than one home, the sources quoted by Shanghai Securities News said, adding "the ordinary people will not be affected."

This follows previous reports that Shanghai would impose taxes on owners of multiple homes and the Chongqing mayor's announcement that property taxes would only hit high-end residences.
But fixing property taxes will not be easy because it is complicated to define which owners have multiple apartments, the source said.

With so many Chinese buying apartments for family members in other cities, it would be difficult to implement a nationwide standard de-termining ownership status.

"So far, all the news about imposing property taxes has just been conjecture," the sources said.

Li Zhanjun, a department director of the E-house China R&D Institute, told the Global Times that he was sure property taxes would be levied sooner or later. "Property taxes, however, should not be considered a tool for keeping down home prices in the long term. It is just a way of increasing fiscal revenue," Li said.

The insider agreed with Li, saying, "Other measures are needed to control speculation. Collecting property taxes alone won't work."