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Shanghai Property tax plan waits approval

By Jia Xu (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-05-31 14:10

Shanghai has submitted the draft plan of property tax to the central government for approval, the China Securities Journal reported Friday.

"We didn't publish any news, plan or timetable on the implementation of Shanghai property tax up to now," said sources from the Shanghai Municipal of Housing, Land and Resource Administration during an interview.

However, there are two versions of a wildly spread draft on who will pay the tax. Some say people whose average living space exceeds 70 square meters will pay the tax. Others suggest tax will be collected in a family unit whose living area exceeds 200 square meters.

If the property draft gets approval, people whose average living area exceeds the standard figure should pay 0.8 percent of its overall property value as property tax. Some real-estate experts say "the 0.8 percent of the overall property value tax is almost reaching the commercial property tax amount."