Property Tax Piloted

Chongqing and Shanghai kicked off the long-awaited trial property taxation on January 28.

The moves came after the State Council, China's cabinet, announced new measures to cool off the red-hot housing market on January 26, including higher down payments, home purchasing restrictions in more cities, and annual price control targets for newly-built homes.

Chongqing will tax all villas, as well as new apartments priced at least two times the average price of all newly-built homes in the city. The tax rate is between 0.5 and 1.2 percent, depending on housing values.

Newly-bought second and second-plus homes of permanent residents in Shanghai will be taxed if the average floor area per family member of all homes, including existing ones, is more than 60 square meters. All new homes bought by non-permanent residents will be taxed, but the buyers can get all tax refunded for their first new homes after they work in Shanghai for three years. The tax rate is between 0.4 and 0.6 percent, according to housing prices.

Halved Tariffs

On January 27, China halved the import duty on electronic products, including computers and digital cameras, to 10 percent, said a statement on the Ministry of Finance's website.

The new rate means the tax on an iPad, a popular purchase with Chinese tourists returning from abroad, will be reduced from 1,000 yuan ($152) to 500 yuan ($76).

Industry insiders said the tax reduction would help overseas IT producers' business expansion in China, the world's largest user of mobile phones and the Internet.