BIZCHINA / Center |
Land tax back on books as the boom continues(Xinhua)Updated: 2007-01-18 10:36 China will enforce a land tax as the country's property boom is showing no sign of abating.The move is targeting real estate developers as the central government tries to cool off the market. The State Administration of Taxation said on its Website that it will begin to formally levy the value-added tax on land - 30-60 percent of developers' net gains from property deals - effective from February 1.
The tax was resumed for the first time in Shenzhen at the end of last year. At present, some regions in China are collecting the tax at a rate of one to two percent on sales of newly developed houses, while other areas have yet to start collection. The new policy shows that the government clearly requires the levying of the tax, and will continue its macro-control over the real estate sector this year, analysts say. The administration said the tax will be collected as soon as a single development project is finished or transferred. "With the reintroduction of the value-added tax on land, the property sector
will rank among the industries with the heaviest tax burdens in China, and
falling profits will dampen future investment in the sector," the Oriental
Morning Post quoted an unidentified developer in Shanghai as saying.
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