Legislature drafting law on property tax. THE Central Government will start inspecting local governments’ progress on implementing a unified real estate registration system, the Ministry of Land and Resources said Friday. The inspection will be focused on places where “progress has severely lagged behind and a wait-and-see attitude exists,” and the ministry will supervise all cities and counties to issue the new real estate certificate and stop issuing the old ones, it said. China announced earlier in January that it would push for a unified real estate registration system in all cities and counties by the end of the year, creating a nationwide property database. It is seen as a major step in the fight against corruption, as it could force corrupt local officials to disclose properties purchased with illicit funds. But the ministry’s deputy minister Wang Guanghua said last year that the registration system was aimed at ensuring the safety of real estate transactions and protecting people’s property rights, instead of cracking down on corruption and cooling home prices, domestic media reports said. Speculation is rife the system will pave the way for implementing property tax, as it will clear technical barriers by establishing a more transparent national database to track home ownership. The National People’s Congress is working on a draft law oncerning property tax, Liu Shangxi, director at the Ministry of Finance’s Fiscal Science Institute, was quoted by Shanghai Securities News as saying late Thursday. But Liu didn’t give any timeline for finalizing the draft. “This tax has been at draft level for many years, the issue is finding the will to push it, given vested interests, and the timing,” NSBO Research said in a note. In 2014, China issued rules requiring real estate owners to register their real estate holdings with the authorities. But publication of the rules took longer than expected, reflecting heavy resistance from local governments and other insiders.(SD-Agencies) | 