China Second-Hand House Tax Calculator — Contract Tax + VAT + PIT + Agency Fee by City (2024 MoF Reform)

Real-world use cases

• Stress-test the buy price before you sign the deposit

  You and the seller verbally agreed ¥3.2 million on a 95㎡ Beijing apartment, contract not signed. Plug in 3,200,000, 95㎡, "held 2-5 years", "first home for buyer family". The calculator lays out ¥32,000 contract tax (1%), ¥179,200 VAT (5.6%, the unit is under 2 years), ¥32,000 PIT (1%), ¥86,400 agency (2.7%). Tax alone is ¥329,600, which is 10.3% of the gross. Now ask the seller to eat the VAT or drop the price by ¥150k. The number gives you a real negotiating anchor that "trust me, taxes are a lot" never could.

• Decide between two similar apartments with different tenures

  Two units in the same compound. Unit A, ¥4.5m, 120㎡, held 3 years (not 5), seller's only property. Unit B, ¥4.6m, 118㎡, held 6 years, seller's only property (满五唯一). Run both. Unit A's PIT is ¥45,000 (1% approved levy). Unit B's PIT is zero. Unit B looks ¥100k more expensive on the sticker but is actually ¥55,000 cheaper all-in. Tax math overrides sticker intuition.

• Find out whether you are actually a "first home" buyer

  You owned an apartment in your home city, sold it 2 years ago. Your spouse owns the apartment you currently live in. You are about to buy in a different city. Are you "first home" or "second home"? Toggle the buyer-family-homes input. At 0 you are first-home (1% contract tax on a 110㎡ purchase), at 1 you are second-home (1% as well after the 2024 reform, but 2% if your new place is over 140㎡). The reform mostly flattened this gap but it still matters above 140㎡. Check the family-housing record at the local 不动产登记中心 before signing.

• Compare DIY transfer to agency-assisted transfer

  The agency wants 2.7% (¥81,000 on a ¥3m deal) to "do the paperwork". You can do it yourself. Book the appointment at 不动产登记中心 online, queue once with the seller, hand in the deed + ID + tax forms, wait 30 days. Set the agency-fee rate to 0 in the calculator and look at the rest of the number. If the deal is uncomplicated (no mortgage transfer, seller is locally present, no co-owner disputes), saving ¥80k may well be worth the two half-days.

• Plan the seller-side closing budget so you do not overdraw

  You are selling a Shanghai apartment, ¥6.5m, 138㎡, held 6 years, your only property. Plug it in, switch to seller view. PIT is exempt (满五唯一). VAT is exempt (over 2 years, ordinary). You owe agency about ¥97k and the ¥80 mortgage- release fee. Your actual net at closing is ¥6.4m, not ¥6.5m. Use this number when you commit to the down payment on the next place. Many households over-commit to the next purchase because they did not subtract the seller-side costs from the gross.

Common pitfalls

• Forgetting that "family homes" includes the spouse and minor children. A buyer who personally has zero homes but whose spouse has one is treated as a second-home buyer, not a first-home buyer. The difference can be 1% of gross price above 140㎡.

• Counting "5 years" from the deed printing date instead of the registration date. The clock starts on the title-deed registration date (房屋所有权证 / 不动产权证 登记日), which can be months later than the contract or printing date. Off by a month and you fail "满五唯一".

• Assuming the seller will absorb VAT just because they listed the unit at the post-tax price. Unless your purchase contract says "买方实收价" or 卖方净到手价 in writing, VAT is by law a seller-side tax that gets economically passed to the buyer in negotiation. Always write the tax-allocation clause into Article 1 of the contract.

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