Chinese Minister of Finance Lou Jiwei yesterday said the ministry will "assist in legislation of the property tax" as it accelerates the reform of China's taxation system.
"We will take an active part in the legislation and reform of China's property tax," Lou said as he addressed lawmakers on the ministry's work, according to its website.
"We have made a guideline plan on the reform of China's taxation system. Now, we are studying the concrete goal, mechanism and evaluation of the major reforms for the next three years," he said.
The reforms cover a wide range, including indirect taxes, individual income tax, property tax, consumption tax and resource tax.
Lou's remark came after Jia Kang, director of the Research Institute for Fiscal Science, a unit under the ministry, was quoted as saying earlier this week at a forum in Hainan Province that the property tax would be a priority in the overall taxation reforms and its legislation would be completed by the end of 2016.
Market hopes were raised the property tax will be expanded nationwide in 2017.
Shanghai and Chongqing initiated a pilot program on property tax in 2011. Last year, Shanghai collected around 100 million yuan (US$16.3 million) in property tax, below the more than 200 billion yuan in taxes from its practice of selling land.
Lou also said China's fiscal revenue rose 8.5 percent from a year earlier to 8.73 trillion yuan in the first seven months.
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