Property taxes and fees in China for foreign buyers: deed tax, VAT, income tax and the six-year rule

Chinese property taxes changed twice in the last two years, and most guides still quote the old rates. This article lists what a foreign individual pays to buy, hold and sell a home in mainland China, with the date and the source of each rate and a clear note where we could not confirm one. It is general information, not tax advice. Rates change and some rules are applied differently by city, so check each item with the local tax bureau and a tax adviser before you rely on it. Whether a foreigner may buy at all, and what is actually owned, is covered in who can buy and how and land-use rights. Hong Kong has its own taxes: see Hong Kong stamp duty and property taxes.

When you buy

• Deed tax. A joint announcement of the Ministry of Finance, the State Taxation Administration and the housing ministry (Announcement 2024 No. 16) cut the rates from 1 December 2024. For a family's first home the rate is 1% up to 140 square metres and 1.5% above. For a second home it is 1% up to 140 square metres and 2% above. Press summaries (Xinhua, Reuters, Bloomberg Tax) say the same rates now apply nationwide, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, where the second home used to carry 3%. We worked from those summaries, not the announcement text. A newer report speaks of an extension of the purchase tax cut, but we did not find the new end date, so check the current rate before you sign.
• Stamp duty. Tax guidance quoted in the sources says an individual who buys or sells a home is exempt from stamp duty. Treat this as reported and confirm it for your city.
• Agent commission. There is no national standard. Reports from 2023 put large chains in Beijing at about 2.7% of the price and up to 3%, and small firms at 1.5% to 2%. A 2018 report on Shanghai gave a total of 3%, of which 2% from the buyer and 1% from the seller, and a later report said some Beijing firms had cut the buyer's share to about 1%. These are dated, so ask the agent in writing who pays what.
• Registration and certificate fees. They exist, are set locally and are small next to the taxes. We found no reliable figures and give none.

While you own it

• Property management fees and the building maintenance fund. They are set by the city and by the building. We found no 2025-2026 figures we could rely on, so we give none: ask for the building's current fees before you buy.
• Property holding tax. In 2021 sources the only recurring property tax on residential homes was a pilot in Shanghai and Chongqing, running since 2011. In October 2021 the legislature authorised the State Council to run an expanded pilot. We found no 2026 source on whether it started or whether national legislation has moved, so we cannot say whether an owner outside those two cities pays one today. Ask the local tax bureau.
• Rental income. Summaries of Chinese tax guidance give 10% individual income tax on residential rent at market price, and VAT at a 5% levy reduced to 1.5% for an individual landlord. We did not check local surcharges or small-taxpayer exemptions. Rental rules for foreigners also depend on your permit and the local rules on registering a lease.

When you sell

• VAT. From 1 January 2026, according to an announcement of the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration of 30 December 2025 (reported by Xinhua and Caixin), an individual who sells a home held for less than two years pays 3% of the full price, down from 5%. A home held for two years or more is exempt. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen now follow the same national rule.
• Individual income tax. The general rule in the summaries is 20% of the gain, meaning the sale price less the original cost and reasonable expenses. The tax is waived if the home was your own residence for five years or more and is the family's only home. Some cities let a seller who cannot document the cost pay a fixed share of the sale price instead, for example 1% in a Shenzhen guide, but that is a local practice and not a national rule, so do not plan around it.
• Land appreciation tax. Guidance quoted in the sources says individuals who sell a home are exempt. Confirm it.
• Why there is no worked example. The cost basis, the local presumptive methods and the exemption tests differ by city, and we could not confirm them one by one. An example with unconfirmed numbers would mislead.

Tax residency and the six-year rule

Whether China taxes your income from outside China depends on how long you stay. Under Announcement 34 of 2019, as summarised by KPMG, China Briefing and others, a foreign individual without a domicile in China becomes a tax resident after 183 days in a calendar year. A day counts only if you are in mainland China for a full 24 hours. Worldwide income becomes taxable only when you have 183 days in the year and in each of the six preceding years, with no single departure of more than 30 days in those years. If you fall short in a year, or leave for more than 30 days, the six-year count starts again. The look-back runs from 2019, so the earliest year in which this could apply was 2025. Income from outside China that is paid by a foreign employer or entity is outside Chinese tax unless those conditions are met, while income for work done in China remains taxable. Note that this is a six-year rule, not five. Your home country may tax you too: see tax residency when relocating.

Inheritance, gifts and tax treaties

We did not find an inheritance or gift tax among the property taxes we checked, but we did not verify the point specifically. Ask an adviser how a transfer by inheritance or gift is treated, and see inheritance and gift tax on property abroad for the general picture.

China and Poland signed a double tax treaty in Beijing on 7 June 1988 and it entered into force on 7 January 1989, according to the OECD list and the Polish Journal of Laws, and the multilateral instrument has applied to it since 2022-2023. A 2008 interpretation of the Polish Ministry of Finance says the treaty does not apply to Hong Kong. Check the text on the State Taxation Administration's treaty list and the Polish treaty list. We do not detail Polish tax here: see tax on foreign rental income for Polish residents.

FAQ

Do foreigners pay higher rates than Chinese citizens? In the summaries we saw, deed tax, VAT and income tax on a resale are not tied to nationality. What changes is tax residency, which decides whether your income from outside China is taxed. Confirm with an adviser.

Is there an annual property tax? Only in the Shanghai and Chongqing pilots in the sources we found, and we could not confirm the 2026 position. Ask the local tax bureau.

Can I use the five-year income tax exemption? Only if the home was your own residence for five years or more and is the family's only home, according to the summaries. Check how your city applies the test to a foreign owner.

What this means for a normal buyer

• Use the 2024 and 2026 rates, not the old ones: deed tax from 1 December 2024 and VAT from 1 January 2026.
• Ask for the figures in writing, per city: deed tax band, who pays the agent, the building's fees and the local rule for income tax on a resale.
• Count your days in China. The six-year rule can make worldwide income taxable, and it resets if you leave for more than 30 days.
• Do not rely on a worked example from an agent. Ask for the tax bureau's own calculation for your property.
• Take advice in both countries before you sign. An independent buyer-side adviser can compare options and bring in a local lawyer and tax adviser; D.H. Realting works from Warsaw as an independent consultant, so ask us how we are paid, as you would ask anyone. Details on the market, prices and developer risks are in the 2026 market overview, on payments in mortgages and money transfers, and the whole series is in our China and Hong Kong guide.