Policy signals show that property tax expansion is gradually approaching

The intensive release of the policy signals that the real estate tax pilot expansion is in full swing. Xie Xuren, Minister of Finance, said at the National Financial Work Conference on the 25th that the pilot of property tax reform has been steadily pushed forward. The recently concluded Central Economic Work Conference also clearly stated that it is necessary to promote the pilot reform of real estate tax.

An expert who has participated in many seminars organized by the fiscal and taxation departments disclosed to the reporter of the "Economic Information Daily" that the finance and taxation departments are actively conducting investigations on further promoting the property tax reform and listening to the views of various parties. Industry insiders speculate that this means that the scope for further expansion of the property tax pilot is gradually approaching. Some experts believe that property tax reform should step up legislation and the direction of reform should be fixed assets tax.

Starting from January 28 this year, Chongqing and Shanghai officially launched trials on real estate tax reform on some individual housing. According to the relevant reform plan, the taxpayer for individual housing property tax in Chongqing should complete the tax payment in October. In Shanghai, taxpayers should pay their taxable income for the current year before December 31st. Earlier information revealed that the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments will conduct a summary of the experience of real estate tax trials in Shanghai and Chongqing before the end of the year.

Industry insiders speculate that the summary of the pilot situation is to pave the way for the next reform. In fact, prior to this, the Minister of Finance Xie Xuren stated in his book "China Financial Management" that one of the main tasks of the current and future fiscal work is to reform and improve the fiscal and taxation system. It is necessary to study and promote the real estate tax reform and improve the property tax system.

For policy signals of frequent release, market analysts predict that on the basis of summarizing the experience of real estate tax trials in Shanghai and Chongqing, the real estate tax reform next year may have two directions. One is the increase of pilot cities, and the other is the collection of stock houses.

If the scope of the pilot is expanded, which cities will be shortlisted has been widely speculated. Chen Guoqiang, vice president of the China Real Estate Society, said in an interview with the reporter of the Economic Information Daily that real estate tax is getting closer and closer. If the scope of the pilot is further expanded, some housing prices will be higher and investment speculative needs will be more important. Regulatory cities may be short-listed, and eastern coastal cities and some provincial capital cities are potentially possible, while cities currently implementing restrictions on purchase policies should not be piloted.

According to reports, Beijing, which has implemented a policy of restricting purchases, has made it clear that there is currently no possibility of real estate tax pilots.

Hua Sheng, a prominent economist and president of Yanjing Overseas Chinese University, said that the real estate tax reform is a general trend, but it must be rolled out across the country. In some places, some places do not sign, and places where property taxes are levied are very “passive”, for example, leading to the loss of talent and wealth.

Chen Guoqiang said that expanding the scope of the pilot is still a concept of tax increase. At present, the people are more sensitive to tax increases and the government will use this policy very cautiously. In fact, the real estate tax reform will not be "out of quotation" and may have a better effect on the market.

In addition, whether the property tax reform will extend to the stock room area is also receiving much attention. Judging from the current trials of real estate tax implemented in Shanghai and Chongqing, apart from Chongqing’s inclusion of personally owned single-family homes, the real estate tax levied on individual homes is not subject to taxation on real estate stocks. Some studies have argued that if taxation is mainly targeted at newly purchased housing, it may mean that the object of taxation is not treated equally. Therefore, starting from the principle of fairness in tax law, apart from the tax exemption of real estate for residents, all individuals who own an individual must be taxed. The scope of taxation should include both the newly acquired property and the original inventory, including both high-end and general-purpose housing.

As for the option of further promoting the real estate tax reform, Watson said in an interview with the reporter of the Economic Information Daily that the real estate tax name is untrue, and the property tax reform direction should be a fixed asset tax, which should be exactly the real estate tax. To be clear, the real estate tax is mainly aimed at the land and not only the building on the land. In other words, it should mainly be the land occupation tax. Now we are only taxing the houses on the land and borrowing the existing property tax concept. The real estate tax reform must step up legislation and do not play "putting aside the ball."