More cities are likely to launch property tax trials within the year after Shanghai and Chongqing, sources said.

Shanghai and Chongqing started to collect property tax in January 2011. Families in Shanghai that owned more than 60 square meter per person have to pay 0.4 percent or 0.6 percent annually (depending on the apartment’s price per sq m. If the price is above 27,740 yuan per sq m, the rate will be 0.6 percent in 2013).

The Chongqing version is focused more on high-end properties, with the rate set between 0.5 percent and 1.2 percent of the property price annually.