CRI听力:China's Property Tax Legislation is Underway

The proposed property tax law is now being debated.

Drafting of the law is expected to be wrapped up by 2016. If all goes ahead as planned, relavent taxes will be implemented in 2017.

A national political advisor and deputy minister with the Ministry of Finance, Zhu Guangyao, says the legislation is undergoing a period of review.

"The State Council is paying much attention to this issue. In years past, Shanghai and Chongqing have been pilot cities for the levying of a property tax. Led by the People's Congress and ministry of finance, the property tax is now under a prudent research process. And we need to fully listen to what the people have to say about it."

In 2011, China launched property taxes in Shanghai and Chongqing on a trial basis to tighten property market control.

It was expected that the trials would be expanded to cover more regions, but the expansion was postponed due to the lack of legal basis.

Based on the pilot program in Shanghai and Chongqing, the property tax is likely to exempt a person or family's first house, and the tax could be higher in first and second tier cities and lower in smaller cities in the country.

With the new property registration regulation taking effect earlier this month, property tax becomes a concern for those people who owns more than one house.

The question is whether the registration plan will restrain investment or drive up prices.

National political advisor, and former head of the research institute of the Ministry of Finance, Jia Kang.

"I don't believe that the legislation and national implementation of property tax will lead to a stable or even downward trend in the property market. The function of the law is to control the rise of housing prices, making sure they do not increase too sharply."

Property tax is concerned with problems relating to finances at the local government level. Officials are also concerned about the impact such taxes have on people's lives.

For CRI, I am Min Rui