China to pilot property tax reforms

BEIJING -- The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, on Saturday adopted a decision to authorize the State Council to pilot property tax reforms in certain regions.

The move aims to advance the property tax legislation and reform in an active and prudent way, guide the rational housing consumption and the economical and intensive use of land resources, and facilitate the steady and sound development of the country's property market, according to the decision.

Property tax should be levied on all types of residential and non-residential property in pilot areas, while lawfully-owned rural homesteads and houses built on them are excluded, the decision said, adding that taxpayers are the holders of land-use rights and house owners.

The State Council and related departments as well as local governments need to create scientific and feasible approaches and procedures for tax collection and management, said the decision.

The State Council will decide on the list of pilot areas after considering issues such as stepping up the pilot program, promoting unified legislation and advancing the steady and sound development of the property market. It will then submit the list to the NPC Standing Committee, for the record.

The date of start of the five-year pilot program will be determined by the State Council, according to the decision.

The Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration will draft the measures for piloting the property tax and make preparations for the work in accordance with the authorization of the NPC Standing Committee, officials of the two state organs said in an interview with Xinhua.