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Govt looks at tax rebate for real estate

By Hu Yuanyuan
Updated: 2008-11-28 15:46

The government may launch a tax rebate on property purchases again to revitalize the sluggish property market, an official said yesterday.

"We are working on a tax rebate policy on property purchase, which is quite similar to the one Shanghai had in 1998," said Qin Hong, deputy director-general of the Policy Research Center of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The tax rebate on housing purchases will not only ease the burden on house buyers, but also change the heavy and unreasonable taxation scheme in the real estate market, experts said.

"The policy is designed to activate more real estate deals and exploit the market's potential," said Qin.

The government has taken a slew of measures to stimulate the market, including cutting the lending rate and taxation on property transactions.

"In designing the policy, the central government is combining long-term influence with short-term effects, which means the policy should activate the current market and have favorable influence in the future as well," Qin added.