Tax cut to attract more homebuyers

Homebuyers in Beijing will have their contract tax halved if the price is below a certain level from today.

The Beijing municipal construction committee issued a circular on Saturday to this effect as part of its effort to encourage spending to boost the housing market and tackle the economic downturn.

For example, if a person buys a 120-sq-m apartment in the Wangjing area at the existing average price of 13,000 yuan per sq m, he/she has to pay a contract tax at the rate of 1.5 percent, instead of 3 percent because the total cost would be 1.56 million yuan.