THE city housing watchdog has denied that homebuyers will be taxed on official valuations of their properties from Nov. 1.
The rumor has driven hundreds of homebuyers to rush to the housing ownership registry center.
The city government decided last month to adopt a new rule under which taxes will be based on an official valuation of a property, which would mean all homebuyers will have to pay more in taxes. Currently, taxes are levied based on the sum stated on purchase contracts.
It had become common practice for real estate agencies to help homebuyers and sellers sign two contracts, one stating the real purchase sum and the other for the housing authority registry, quoting a figure far lower than the actual value, in order to evade taxes.
Early media reports quoted people familiar with the new tax rule as saying that it was likely to become effective Nov. 1.
The Southern Metropolis Daily said yesterday more than 1,700 homebuyers went to the housing ownership registry center in Yinhu to register, 500 more than on a regular day. The number of people who have come to register has surged significantly since Oct. 22, an official with the registry center said.
If I don t have the paperwork completed before Nov. 1, I will have to pay 100,000 yuan (US$14,926) more in taxes for the apartment I ve just bought, said Sun, a resident waiting to register an apartment he bought in Futian.
But the local taxation bureau refuted the rumors. The rule has been completed, but it won t become effective Nov. 1, said Yang Long, spokesman and vice director of the city s local taxation bureau.
Yang said the rule will be announced one week before it goes into effect. (SD News)
