Beijing to levy property tax

China will begin to impose a property tax in 2008, an advisor to the government told Xinhua Net (in Chinese) on Chinese Real Estate Summit. Feng Changchun, head of Real Estate Research Department at Peking University, told the news service that the program was supposed to be launched this year but was delayed. China currently charges no tax on real estate, though buyers of property do pay a stamp tax. A pilot program for the scheme will start in commercial real estate and gradually expand to cover residential properties. The Ministry of Finance is working on appraising the tax base and rate for the new taxation, Feng explained.