Shenzhen to reduce tax on larger house transactions
SHENZHEN, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province on Tuesday became the latest major Chinese city to reduce taxes for transactions involving larger houses.
The city said in a notice that it will scrap the distinction between ordinary and non-ordinary housing starting on Dec. 1, which will unify favorable tax policies for the two categories.
According to the notice, non-ordinary houses that have been owned for two years or more will enjoy the same tax exemption from 5-percent value-added tax (VAT) as ordinary homes during transactions.
In Shenzhen, non-ordinary housing usually refers to houses with building areas exceeding 144 square meters.
The announcement by Shenzhen follows similar moves by Beijing and Shanghai, another two first-tier cities in China, to eliminate the distinction between ordinary and non-ordinary housing.
China has rolled out a slew of measures to prop up its sluggish property market -- including cutting mortgage rates, lowering down payment ratios and relaxing purchase restrictions.
Amid the emergence of such pro-housing policies, China's property market displayed positive changes in October, in the form of narrowing price declines, stronger sales and improved market sentiment.
（Editor:Liao Yifan）
