Hot property market fires up tax revenue

Growth in tax revenue has been accelerating over recent quarters as a reflection of the economic recovery, with improved company performance and a thawing property market spurring the advance.

Nationwide, tax revenue was 8.44 trillion yuan ($1.39 trillion) in the first three quarters, up 9 percent with the growth rate and accelerating 0.4 percentage point from the same period last year, the Ministry of Finance said in an online statement on Monday.

Tax revenue growth has been rising on a quarterly basis from the 6 percent growth recorded in the first three months and 7.9 percent in the first half. The ministry said 77.3 percent of the annual target was accomplished by the end of September.

The development was in line with the latest statistical data of the world's second-largest economy, showing its growth had sped up to 7.8 percent in the third quarter from 7.5 percent the previous one.

"The obvious uptick in the third quarter's fiscal revenue was due to economic recovery and the improved trade situation," said Bai Jingming, deputy director of the Research Institute for Fiscal Science under the Finance Ministry.

In September, the corporate income tax grew nearly 50 percent from a year before, which, according to Bao, came from increased revenue of companies on the back of a reviving economy.

According to the Finance Ministry, profits of industrial companies have grown 12.8 percent year-on-year in the first eight months.