The Main Problems And Solutions To The Property Tax In China

The collection of the property tax has a long history in China.As early as 1986,the State Council has issued "The Interim Regulation of the Property Tax in the People's Republic of China",which stipulated that the government should levy the property tax in the cities,towns,industrial and mining areas and counties.However,at that time,our country was in the planned economic period.The residential housing is public housing and the trading system of the real estate market is not set up.In view of this,the interim regulation stipulated that the personal housing estate which was individually-owned but non-business use could be exempt from the property tax.With the development of social economy,the reform of housing system,the increasement of the disparity between the rich and the poor,the rapid growth of the real estate prices,the shortage of urban construction land resources,the increasement of local government debt,etc.,the interim regulation on the property tax is not suitable for the current economic and social development needs in China.The government need to levy the property tax to adjust income distribution gap,manage housing prices and increase local government fiscal funds.Levying property tax has many benefits,but it produces a great controversy in the process of actual legislation,such as,whether it is necessary to levy housing property tax in the system of the current land transfer fee;whether it will increase the burden of the people to levy housing property tax;whether it is legal to levy property tax considering the reality that the land is not owned by private individual;how to guarantee the fairness of the tax burden if the government levies the property tax to housing-reformation housing,affordable housing,commercial housing,small property right housing,etc.Recently,the thirteenth session of the National People's Congress reveals that the National People's Congress budget committee,the ministry of finance and other relevant departments are making full use of time to draft and perfect the draft legislation of property tax.In view of this,it is necessary to study relevant problems.This study will have important theoretical and practical significance.This paper is divided into six parts.In the first part,the author introduces the concept of the property tax in China.Then the author analyzes the characteristics which can distinguish the property tax from other taxes.In the second part,the author analyzes the necessity of the property tax and detailedly elaborates the effects of the property tax which can adjust income distribution,stabilize house prices,increase the fiscal revenue of local government and optimize the tax system.In the third part,the author analyzes the legality of the property tax in the system of the land public ownership,explores that the government should balance the relationship between the land transfer fee and the housing property tax for their different attributes,and explains that property tax can limit the land finance behavior of local governments.The author suggests perfect property tax legislation in advance could promote the legality of the property tax in the system of the land public ownership.In the fourth part,the author divides the types of individual housing and discusses the feasibility of various types of property tax collection.From the background and the relevant appropriate groups of various types of properties,the author analyzes which types of properties are suitable for the property tax and which types of properties should be exempt from the property tax.In the fifth part,the author analyzes the problems of "new and old unfairness" and the unfair phenomena of tax burden which may arise after the law of property tax is enacted,and puts forward some countermeasures and suggestions.In the sixth part,the author discusses the tax rate of the property tax,selects the specific provisions of the property tax rate existed in foreign countries and Shanghai and Chongqing pilot areas to analyze,and proposes the suggestions about the tax rate form which can be adopted by relevant departments in the process of our country's property tax legislation.