The Ministry of Land and Resources said that the government is expecting a national property information platform established by 2017. (Photo : wiki.china.org.cn)
In two years' time, the Chinese government is planning to establish a national property information platform, which in turn could pave the way for a new property tax, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources.
The official document released by the ministry on Thursday said that the platform will be a central piece to the real-estate registration project planned by the authorities.
The plan, which was formally unveiled earlier this year, is aimed at ending the patchwork scheme overseen by various cities' departments.
Under the current fragmented paradigm, the government is having difficulties to track the entire property portfolio of a particular citizen.
According to the land and resources ministry, the proposed platform will consolidate all information about real estate across various administrative grades.
The ministry plans to implement a national database by 2016, prior to the creation of an information platform covering the entire country in 2017.
The plan comes after the country's top legislating body put the property tax law on its legislative agenda. Lawmakers are expected to pass the law as early as 2017.
However, the idea has earned comments from analysts, saying that in theory, the law's passage and the unified information platform would clear the way for a new tax on property.
Nonetheless, the process could still be delayed due to various considerations, including the plan's benefit-cost analysis.
"I think a massive property tax on all existing properties would be difficult to introduce, even in a few years," Jeffrey Gao, China Property Research Nomura Securities chief, said.
"It will not gain any ground unless China's economy has really shaken off its reliance on real estate," Gao added.
