Why people are so sensitive to property tax
Recently, the Shanghai Municipality’s "Notice on Several Issues Concerning the Implementation of the Municipality's Pilot Implementation of Real Estate Tax on Certain Individual Housing" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") has triggered continuous discussions on real estate tax.
Real estate tax is about everyone's vital interests.
Some scholars believe that the possibility of introducing a real estate tax in the next five years is very high, and the conditions for introducing a real estate tax are now available.
Experts from the Academy of Social Sciences have also suggested introducing a real estate tax during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period.
The release of the "Notice" can be said to have triggered a sensitive nerve in the society and aroused many interpretations.
The property tax policy for some individual houses in Shanghai has been piloted for ten years. Will this official release continue the pilot program or a formal new policy?
We don't know.
However, Shanghai, as a first-tier city, undoubtedly has the role of a weather vane in its policy direction, which makes it even more fascinating.
The current property market in first- and second-tier cities still shows no signs of cooling.
In November last year, there was also a "new craze" in the property market in first- and second-tier hotspot cities.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that first-tier cities have seen “end-over-end” market conditions, and housing prices have risen relatively large.
Recently, some cost-effective new houses and high-quality school district housing have also become the main driving force for this round of rising housing prices in first-tier cities.
For lowering and stabilizing housing prices, many experts, scholars and officials have suggested levying a real estate tax.
In December last year, Huang Qifan, vice chairman of the China International Economic Exchange Center, mentioned that the best way to lower house prices is to collect taxes, collect real estate taxes, and collect taxes for people with many houses.
But he also proposed that the starting point and exempt area must be grasped well.
In November last year, the article "Establishing a Modern Fiscal and Taxation System" written by Minister of Finance Liu Kun mentioned the further improvement of the modern taxation system and mentioned that in the future, real estate tax should be proactive and stable in accordance with the principle of "legislation first, full authorization, and step-by-step progress". Advance legislation and reform of real estate tax.
From the beginning of the trial of real estate tax collection on some individual houses in Shanghai 10 years ago, to the subsequent "Interim Regulations on Real Estate Registration", the introduction of real estate tax can be described as brewing for many years.
When real estate tax was piloted in Shanghai and Chongqing in 2011, the author wrote an article "What is the significance of the pilot real estate tax" and said, "Another potential purpose of the pilot real estate tax is to impose a property ownership tax to change the local government's dependence on'land finance'. Getting rid of the dependence on'land finance' is conducive to the healthy development of the real estate market in the long run, but the transformation of local government taxation must also be carried out with the reform of the land system. The author believes that the pilot property tax should be used as an opportunity to promote local government financial disclosure The promotion of public supervision channels, while promoting the transformation of local government taxation, promotes the transformation of local government functions, this is the greatest significance of the pilot real estate tax."
Real estate tax has been a key hot word in real estate for 8 consecutive years.
Why are people so concerned about property tax?
The reason is that property tax is closely related to every resident who holds real estate.
According to data from the Central Bank, my country’s current urban housing ownership rate is as high as 96%, and taxation policies will undoubtedly affect most people who account for 96%.
The current time is when the demand for the introduction of real estate tax is very high, and the individual interpretations caused by this have also brought a lot of anxiety to the public.
Huang Qifan mentioned that "the starting point and the exemption area must be grasped well", and the author agrees very much.
Scientifically setting the threshold and exemption area will benefit most working-class people. At the same time, this is also a measure that will help expand domestic demand and consumption growth to a certain extent.
There are no new trends regarding the implementation of real estate tax. We look forward to the release of authoritative interpretations to dispel public concerns and promote the healthy development of the real estate market.
Author: He Cuiyun