China's new real estate tax policies yield significant tax cuts, exemptions in first month

China's new tax policies aimed at stabilizing the real estate market have resulted in 11.69 billion yuan (about 1.6 billion U.S. dollars) in tax reductions and exemptions in their first month of implementation, according to data released Saturday by the State Taxation Administration.

The tax measures, which took effect on Dec. 1, 2024, cover three key areas: expanded deed tax benefit, second home purchase incentives and value-added tax exemption.

The floor area threshold for homes eligible for the lower one percent deed tax rate has been increased from 90 to 140 square meters. This change accounted for 6.5 billion yuan (897 million U.S. dollars) in tax cuts and benefited over 1.4 million homebuyers.

These homebuyers accounted for 89.4 percent of all receiving deed tax breaks, a 14.4 percentage-point increase from before the policy went into effect.

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have offered deed tax benefits for second home purchases, resulting in 2.58 billion yuan (356 million U.S. dollars) in tax reductions. The policy affected 35,974 homebuyers across the four cities, with Shanghai seeing the largest impact at 940 million yuan (129.7 million U.S. dollars) in cuts for 15,572 homebuyers.

For individuals selling their homes in the four cities that have been owned for at least two years, there is no longer a distinction between ordinary and non-ordinary residences, and value-added tax is uniformly exempted.

This led to 2.61 billion yuan (360 million U.S. dollars) in new tax exemptions for previously non-ordinary residences, with the number of home transactions in these cities jumping 71 percent in December 2024 from the previous month.

China's new real estate tax policies yield significant tax cuts, exemptions in first month

Domestic travel in China hit record highs both in 2025 and during the 2026 Spring Festival holiday, Minister of Culture and Tourism Sun Yeli said on Saturday.

The minister made the statement in briefing news media on China's travel boom in the past year and this year's Spring Festival holiday running from Feb 15 to 23, at a press conference on people's livelihood on the sidelines of the fourth annual session of the 14th National People's Congress.

"This year's Spring Festival holiday saw a surge in China's culture and tourism market. During the nine-day holiday, the country recorded 596 million domestic tourist trips, with tourism spending surpassing 800 billion yuan (about 115.93 billion U.S. dollars), both setting new records," Sun said.

The travel surge during the Spring Festival holiday season was merely a snapshot, the minister said, adding that the past year witnessed thriving momentum across the culture and tourism sectors.

"Data show that the business revenue of enterprises above the designated size (those each with an annual revenue of 20 million yuan or more) in culture and related industries hit 15 trillion yuan in 2025, up 7.4 percent year on year, while their total profits reached 1.4 trillion yuan, up 6.5 percent year on year. In terms of tourism, domestic tourist trips by Chinese residents exceeded 6.5 billion, up more than 16 percent year on year, with tourism expenditure reaching 6.3 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.5 percent -- setting new records in both the volume and spending," Sun said.

The annual session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, opened on Thursday and is scheduled to run till March 12.

China's domestic travel hits record highs in 2025: official