Beijing continues to tighten housing purchase rules by imposing stricter tax regulations on residents without a local hukou, said an official statement Wednesday.
Starting Wednesday, residents without a local hukou (household registration) must pay income tax or social insurance for at least 60 months continuously before they can buy a house, according to a statement jointly released by the Beijing Taxation Bureau and Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
Residents who stop paying taxes due to job changes or other reasons but resume paying within three months will still be viewed as valid home purchasers, the statement added.
In 2011, Beijing imposed a restriction saying that residents without a local hukou could only purchase a home in Beijing after having paid social insurance and individual taxes for at least five years.But the regulation did not ask that income taxes be paid for all months of each year.
Meanwhile, the city's housing commission has so far shut down 11 real estate agencies for illegal operations after an investigation was launched to regulate the property market last Friday.
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