Property Tax Reform in China : Optional property tax proposals and the effects on residence price

Abstract: This paper gives some theoretical instructions of China’s property tax reform which include the reform of land lease system, the design of tax base, tax rates and tax relief, and also provides some interesting property tax proposals for Shanghai and estimates the effects of property tax reform on residence price.This paper selects a case study of Shanghai which can provide useful methods or findings to other cases characterized by similar traits and situations. Through observation and analysis of documentary evidence, the new average residence price and the prices of residences which locate around the inner ring road and the outer ring road are estimated. Moreover, this study uses asset pricing theory, partial equilibrium theory and quantitative simulation analysis to explore the impact of property tax reform on the residence price under the combinations of varied property tax rates, discount rates and tax base. The paper also uses comparative analysis in lots of areas. The data is gathering from National Bureau of Statistics, local bureaus of statistics, World Band, several valuation firms, international and local theses.The author provides 4 proposals of Shanghai. After the simulation analysis, the first proposal is seen as the most mildly proposal with low property rates and small tax base. The total residence value decreases about 4.92 percent of the original value after the property tax reform. The second proposal use graduated property tax rates corresponding to different property value, which may have greater fairness and equality but lower efficiency. The third proposal targets at gaining more tax revenue from villa and luxury apartments and adjusts the poverty gap. The sales price after property tax decreases around 10 percent. The fourth proposal provides the idea that property tax rates can be set according to the location of administrative areas. In the future study, a case study of a certain city combined with precise empirical observations and statistics data is a good direction. Moreover, this study only introduces a simple model and some indicators which affect the house price. However, how to narrow down the indicators and to use an effective model and to use property tax as an effective indicator to affect residence price is the next step.