China announces tax relief measures to stabilize real estate sector

In a move aimed at stabilizing China's real estate sector, the government announced on Wednesday a series of targeted tax relief measures, effective from Dec 1，that are designed to bolster both housing demand and support for property developers.

Individuals either purchasing first residence or second home, as long as the property size does not exceed 140 square meters, will now pay a uniform 1 percent deed tax rate, according to a joint statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, State Taxation Administration and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The expansion of the eligibility for the lower tax rate to include apartments up to 140 square meters is expected to better support people’s basic housing needs and their wishes to improve living conditions, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, in regions where the distinction between ordinary and non-ordinary housing has been abolished, individuals who have owned a property for two years or more will be exempt from paying value-added tax when selling their homes regardless of their property types.

Houses over 144 square meters are usually classified as non-ordinary housing and face higher transaction tax rates.

The new policy also uniformly lowered the minimum pre-collection rate for land valve-added tax by 0.5 percentage points across all regions, giving local authorities the flexibility to further adjust the rates based on their local conditions.

The State Taxation Administration previously outlined a tiered system for pre-collection rate of land valve-added tax, setting the minimum rate at 2 percent for eastern regions, 1.5 percent for central and northeastern regions, and 1 percent for western regions.