The real estate tax system is an important part of the real estate market system. Establishing and perfecting the real estate tax and fee system is of great significance for giving full play to the benefits of state-owned land resources, preventing the loss of state-owned land resources and ensuring the healthy and orderly development of the real estate market. At present, the abnormal development of China real estate market has brought us some thoughts on the current real estate tax and fee system. By analyzing the disadvantages of the existing system and the successful experience of foreign related systems, this paper puts forward some suggestions on perfecting China's real estate tax and fee system.
Keywords: real estate tax macro-control improvement
main body
Tax leverage is a powerful tool for the state to carry out macro-control. In recent years, housing prices in Beijing, Shanghai and other parts of China have soared, and the development of real estate industry has greatly affected whether market transactions can be carried out smoothly, whether land resources can be fully utilized, and whether urban residents can live and work in peace and contentment. In this situation of continuous high temperature, strengthening the supervision and management of the real estate market, standardizing market transactions and realizing the effective allocation of resources have become the focus of national macro-control. In order to curb abnormally high housing prices and cool down the overheated real estate market, the leverage of taxation cannot be ignored. Scientific real estate tax and fee reform is more powerful and effective than other measures to control real estate fever, such as controlling land, raising interest rates and levying real estate transfer tax. Therefore, it is necessary and imperative to improve China's real estate tax and fee system and give full play to its macro-control function on the economy.
The present situation of China real estate tax and fee system
With the development of market economy and the deepening of reform and opening up, China's real estate tax and fee system has been gradually established and improved. China's real estate tax system consists of two parts, one is real estate tax, and the other is real estate fee.
(A) the real estate tax system
After the reform of 1994 tax system, China's real estate tax system has been gradually improved in terms of tax category setting, adjustment of tax items and tax rates, and unification of internal and external tax systems, forming a set of composite tax that meets the requirements of the development of socialist market economy. According to the different nature of tax objects, real estate tax can be divided into four categories: turnover tax (including business tax, urban maintenance and construction tax and land value-added tax), income tax (including enterprise income tax and personal income tax), property tax (including property tax, deed tax, urban land use tax and farmland occupation tax) and behavior tax (including stamp duty and fixed assets investment direction adjustment tax). In the resolution of the Third Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee from June 5th to 10, 2003, it was clearly stated: "Reform of taxes and fees for urbanization construction should be implemented, and unified and standardized property tax should be levied on real estate where conditions permit, and relevant fees should be cancelled accordingly." On February 26th, 2005, State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China, Ministry of Finance, the State Council Development Research Center and other relevant departments discussed the Research Report on China Real Estate Tax Policy. The meeting made it clear that China began to design a new tax system in 2005, and simulated it in a suitable city. At present, the government is actively promoting the reform of the new real estate tax system with the reform direction of "clearing rent, paying taxes and clearing fees".
(2) Real estate charging system.
Real estate expenses refer to various expenses incurred in real estate market activities. It is the reward that the state organs provide some services (management) for real estate or the state authorizes others to develop and utilize national resources. It is also a form for the state to obtain fiscal revenue from real estate. According to the relevant regulations, there are three main types of real estate charges at present: first, the land use fee charged by the state as the land owner from the land users in the primary real estate market, mainly including land rent, the state's development cost of land, land expropriation compensation fee and resettlement subsidy; Second, the fees charged by the real estate administrative organs or their authorized organs to perform administrative functions to manage the real estate industry, that is, the real estate administrative charge, mainly including registration fees, survey fees, warrants fees, handling fees, housing lease registration fees, and supervision fees; Third, the fees charged by real estate administrative organs or institutions for providing specific services to society or individuals, that is, real estate fees, mainly including demolition management fees and housing evaluation fees.
Second, the existing problems of the real estate tax system
Through different taxes, the development of China's real estate industry has been adjusted in many aspects. However, most of the current real estate taxes are set with reference to the taxes of other industries, without considering the characteristics of the real estate industry itself, so these tax structures have not adapted to the objective needs of the development of the real estate industry.
(A) the defects of the macro tax system.
First of all, real estate transactions lack monitoring, and tax collection and management is difficult. First, the real estate appraisal system has not been generally established, and real estate transactions can only be based on the actual transaction price. In addition, the law does not stipulate that the government has the priority to buy real estate transactions that are obviously lower than the fair market price, which provides conditions for real estate speculation; Second, there is no strict registration system, which makes it impossible for tax authorities to verify taxpayers' false declarations. Secondly, in the "invisible market" tax evasion, the loss of state-owned assets is greater. Obtaining the right to use state-owned land by administrative allocation, but not paying the transfer fee, or the collectively-owned land has not been expropriated by the state and directly enters the market for trading. Whether to take administrative punishment measures or levy land value-added tax, if so, how to calculate the value-added amount, these are legal gaps. Third, the boundary between land transfer and transfer is unclear, and it is difficult to determine tax exemption. First, it is difficult to determine two types of taxpayers who own land. According to the law, China's land ownership is divided into state-owned and collective-owned, and the Urban Management Law also stipulates that the right to use state-owned land can only be transferred with compensation after the collectively-owned land in the urban planning area is requisitioned according to law and converted into state-owned land. In this way, in fact, the collectively owned land is gradually nationalized, which makes it difficult to determine the ownership of the two types of land in reality, and it is difficult to draw a clear line between the transfer and transfer of derivative land, thus affecting the determination of taxpayers and the specific boundaries of tax exemption. Second, it is difficult for real estate companies with unknown nature to define the boundaries of tax exemption. At present, many "real estate companies" belong to the land department, and they are legal persons who want to perform administrative duties and reflect the will of the government, which makes it difficult for tax authorities to distinguish which business of the company belongs to policy "agents" and which belongs to "self-operated" projects, and it is difficult to determine the boundaries of tax exemption.
(2) The defects of micro tax system.
First of all, the distribution structure of tax revenue is unreasonable and the holding link is relatively light. This link mainly regulates the income distribution between the government and real estate occupiers. The current structure will make the land an interest-free loan for the holder, and almost all the value-added in the holding stage will flow to the holder, further stimulating real estate speculation. The low tax burden in the holding stage leads to excessive tax burden in the circulation link, which encourages invisible trading and tax evasion. Secondly, the tax basis is unreasonable and the tax burden is unequal. For example, there is a great difference between the ad valorem tax rate and the ad valorem tax rate, which leads to the proliferation of invisible market; The current deed tax distinguishes between state-owned and non-state-owned enterprises to pay taxes; Farmland occupation tax, property tax and fixed assets investment direction adjustment tax are all implemented separately by domestic and foreign investors. Third, the scope of individual tax needs to be expanded. First, in the current tax system, except the farmland occupation tax, the tax objects, tax scope and tax subjects of other taxes do not include collective land and buildings and attachments on the ground, which invisibly loses the state's management and regulation of this part of real estate; Second, the provisions on urban land do not include non-operating real estate owned by government agencies, people's organizations, the army and units allocated by the state finance for personal use.
(3) Defects in the relationship between taxes and fees.
First of all, there are too many property fees, and the collection is not standardized. Charges are obviously heavier than taxes. At present, there is no legal basis for administrative fees, and the main bodies of administrative organs are different, and the phenomenon of arbitrary charges and apportionment is serious. It is understood that there are more than 40 kinds of fees collected in Beijing, and some places have nearly 100 kinds. According to the survey, government fees in the real estate industry account for more than 75% of all taxes and fees. Among the land costs, fees account for 30%, land transfer fees account for 50%, and taxes account for 20%. Obviously, fees are greater than taxes, and power is greater than law. Secondly, taxes and fees should be paid at the same time, and taxes and fees should be levied repeatedly, which is a double burden. The most prominent example is that operators who obtain land use rights by means of transfer have to pay both land use fees and land use taxes.
Three, learn from foreign experience to improve the reform of tax and fee system.
(a) the nature of the national tax system
1 mainly taxes, supplemented by fees. Foreign countries generally have to pay real estate fees, accounting for only about 2% of the real estate value. And fully follow the principle of "who benefits, who pays".
2. Retain the tax-sharing structure while neglecting the transfer. Land tax in all countries is composed of three taxation links: land retention, management and acquisition. The tax on the transfer of real estate ownership in various countries is less, and the tax on the retention link is more important.
Adhere to the basic principles of broad tax base, less taxes and low tax rate. In addition to public, religious, charitable and other institutions, others are taxpayers. Less tax avoids the unfairness of repeated taxation caused by the cost of executives and complex taxes. On the premise of the first two, the low tax rate reduces the tax burden and ensures the stability of fiscal revenue.
(2) Suggestions on tax reform in China.
1 standardizes China's legal system and improves the macro-tax supporting system.
First of all, we should improve the laws and regulations on real estate taxation. At present, China's tax legislation is at a low level, mostly involving administrative regulations and rules, lacking sufficient legal unity and authority. In order to maintain the independence of market players, give full play to their initiative and enthusiasm, formulate relevant tax laws, calculate taxes according to law, and reduce administrative intervention. Secondly, establish a complete and systematic real estate appraisal system, that is, a specialized institution composed of professionals under the supervision of a sound legal system. When the time is ripe, a real estate tax assessment system will be established, and a real estate tax assessment agency will be set up in the tax department to make a statutory assessment of the real estate tax payable by taxpayers. Third, establish an information communication system between real estate management agencies and tax collection and management agencies. Standardized real estate service system including property right registration, real estate evaluation, consultation, project supervision, transaction agent, etc. To provide objective tax information and professional services for the tax authorities, and cooperate with the tax authorities to do a good job in the collection and management of real estate tax.
2. Design the tax system and improve the micro tax system.
The first is the rationalization of tax distribution structure. Pay attention to the tax of real estate ownership, levy a unified and standardized real estate tax, and strengthen the tax of real estate ownership. On the one hand, it can prevent owners from using property inefficiently and promote the optimal allocation of real estate elements; On the one hand, government participation in resource redistribution can increase the source of fiscal revenue; Furthermore, it can share the high tax burden of circulation links and stifle irregular invisible transactions; Second, change the tax basis, adjust the tax rate and expand the scope of taxation. Based on the market evaluation value and the principle of "whoever benefits pays", the proportional tax rate is set, such as the tax rate in the central city is higher than that in the suburbs, which makes the tax calculation more reasonable, more supervised and more flexible. Urban construction tax should be based on the taxpayer's operating income to reflect the principle of tax equality. Adjust the rent and ad valorem property tax accordingly to make the tax burden fairer; Adjust the tax rate appropriately, such as reducing the deed tax rate appropriately, increasing the stamp duty and farmland occupation tax rate appropriately, strengthening the adjustment, and giving full play to the leverage of taxation; Non-agricultural houses in rural areas will be included in the scope of taxation, and all units and individuals using land and real estate in cities and towns will be taxed. Third, reform the internal and external differences and unify the urban and rural tax system. The integration of income tax laws of domestic and foreign-funded enterprises has accelerated the pace of integration of domestic and foreign capital, implemented national treatment and created an environment of fair competition to adapt to the new situation of China's accession to the WTO. Reform the dual-track tax system in urban and rural areas, create a tax environment with a broad tax base, and increase the state's supervision and regulation of all land.
3 coordinate the relationship between taxes and fees and build a harmonious tax and fee system.
The first is to clean up the compressed charges and simplify the charging items. Arbitrary charges mostly lead to high development and construction costs, which eventually constitutes one of the reasons for high housing prices. To change some fees into taxes and reduce the phenomenon of repeated collection, we can learn from foreign countries to divide the charging items into four categories: real estate transfer fees, registration fees, notarization fees, project benefit fees charged to collectively owned land (fees charged by the government to the surrounding land owners for increasing the value of their investment in land) and rates (fees charged to property users). Taxes and fees can be collected, managed and paid separately by tax authorities, which can simplify things. Second, clarify the concept of rent tax and straighten out the relationship among them. Incorporate the land use fee, which is essentially land rent, into the land rent system and rename it accordingly. For example, land leasing can be changed to land leasing; Clarify the level of taxes and fees, avoid the double burden of taxpayers, such as canceling the urban land use tax, avoiding repeated collection after paying the land transfer fee, and strengthening the control of the scope and examination and approval authority of the allocated land use right; Change the idle land fee into idle land tax or empty land tax to strengthen the tax control function.
label
Any system is constantly improved in the torrent of practice, so is the real estate tax and fee system. Based on the basic principles of taxation, combined with the characteristics of the real estate industry, we should realize the unity of fairness and efficiency, and establish a tax system with scientific taxes, reasonable tax burden, simple administration and decentralization, and simplified fees, so as to provide an institutional basis for the healthy development of the real estate industry.