It's been over 3 months since Shanghai and Chongqing began levying property taxes. But the tax revenue collected to date is less than forecast, and total property taxes levied from the two cities is less than one million yuan.

Data shows as at the end of April, around 2,300 houses in Shanghai were designated to pay property tax. But from March, when the taxes were collected for the first time, only about 20 properties actually paid up. Analysts did the math: the average tax for each house is about 50 thousand yuan. That means a total of only 1 million yuan have been paid, far from previous forecasts of 1.2 billion yuan. The head of the Shanghai taxation bureau explains there's still several months ahead until the deadline for tax collection.

Gu Ju, Director of Shanghai Taxation Bureau said "According to the current regulations, the filing period for property owners to pay property tax is until December 31st this year."

Experts say, there's a possibility that at the end of the year when the deadline is approaching, there will be a peak in tax payments.

Jia Kang, Director of Institute of Fiscal Science, MOF said "When it comes to the end of this year,there might be a peak time when everybody swarms to pay tax. Since we have not arrived at the due date, it's hard to predict what that will be like."

Insiders say, one of the biggest challenges for Shanghai and Chongqing is how to ensure the complete collection of the property tax before the deadline.

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