BEIJING: Expectations that legislation to enact a property tax would be put to the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s legislature, last month were raised after a key economic planning meeting in December. A statement released by China’s leaders after the conference called for a “long-term mechanism” to be established to ward off property bubbles, which would involve the use of fiscal, financial, tax, land and legislative measures. However a spokeswoman for the NPC, told reporters that the draft law on the tax would not be submitted to lawmakers for review.
According to Caixin, China has for years been mulling a nationwide tax on homeownership that advocates believe would drive out the speculation that is pushing housing costs way beyond the means of ordinary people, but the tax faces a mountain of challenges and complexities. In September, new-home prices in Beijing jumped by 27.8% year-on-year, 32.7% in Shanghai, and 34.1% in Shenzhen, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show.
