New Property Tax Unlikely This Year(2)

"Recently there have been many unresolved issues. Are inventories taxable? How do we investigate and prove private ownership of property and real estate? How do we establish tax exemptions? How do we gaurantee profits for middle and low-income property owners?" Liu Huan says that any policy that is passed should not fundamentally affect common citizens, and tax rates should not be too high. They need to be premised on comprehensive and objective housing registration surveys and property appraisals.

Zhang Xuedan says that any property tax will be very complex, and will require coordination and cooperation to resolve. From a technical standpoint, there is a huge deficiency in appraisers, with differences in property values within areas still significant. "Of course, in order to push the tax forward at first, it's possible to use original property values with a deductible quota in order to establish a tax base. Then, once the evaluation standards are set, a new tax base methodology can be pursued." Zhang still suggests that appraisal work should be on the governments check, and not by the appraisal industry, lest its neutrality come into question.