New vat rules for selling houses in 2026! These three key points have a direct impact on your wallet. Don't wait for the deal
Attention to friends who are ready to sell a house! Since january 1, 2026, there has been a new change in vat for individuals, whether you want to buy a new house for the old or simply try to cash it, the new rules will have to be understood – after all, a miscalculated tax, probably tens of thousands, and we can’t afford to lose it。
What's the value added tax for selling houses? Simply put, when you sell the house, the state tax on this transaction, which is only personal (not counting ordinary taxpayers in individual businesses), is directly related to how much money you finally get. When a lot of people used to sell houses, they didn't charge taxes, and when they moved, they found that they had to pay tens of thousands more。
At the heart of this new regulation are two tax rules, both of which are kept in mind, and house sales are taxed. First, if you want to sell a house for less than two years, you have to pay full vat at 3 per cent of the total price sold, and the costs of renovations, intermediaries and so on cannot be offset. To give a more intuitive example, the value added tax would be 30,000 if the house was sold for 1 million; if the house was sold for 5 million, it would cost approximately 1456,000. Someone might ask, wasn't it 5% before? That's right. This time, a direct drop from 5 to 3 per cent is equivalent to a 40 per cent direct reduction in the short-term sales tax, which could be less stressful for people who are in a state of emergency。
The second rule is even more true: once the house has been bought for two years (including two years), the vat is free. What do we do with a focus here? On the date of the property certificate or the date of payment of the tax due? The answer is which one is early, but not the date of residence, which could have been more than a few months. In january 2024, for example, you paid the deed, and in march 2024 you received the property certificate. In january 2026, even after two years, you could save a vat。
Another important reminder is that, before 1 january 2026, if you have sold a house but have not yet declared a value added tax (vat), you will be able to comply with the new rules, free of the tax and short of payment; but if you have already paid a tax, you will not be able to do so, so friends who have not done so will have to check。
Someone might be curious. Why change the policy? It's simple, actually, to make the used house market more active. In the past, the pressure on sellers' taxes and fees was so great that many people would add them to the house price that buyers would spend much more; now they are reduced, exempt for two years, the sellers are less burdened, the prices of the houses may be more real and the buyers will benefit. And as a result, more people are willing to sell their old houses for new ones, and the cycle of “selling old ones for new ones” is in place, both to ease the pressure on second-hand houses and to boost new markets, which is good for the whole real estate market。
The second-hand room has long been less valuable and the 5 per cent value added tax is somewhat unreasonable. The new regulation reduces the collection rate to 3 per cent and removes the deep northern restrictions (previously, the four cities had to pay taxes after two years of selling non-ordinary housing, and now the whole country has been exempted from taxation for two years), which have improved considerably in terms of equity and practicality。
Finally, let me remind you that the value added tax (vat) is involved in the sale of houses, as well as personal income tax (irs) and tax dues, but vat is a larger one. If you do not allow your house to run for two years, or do not know exactly how much to pay, it would be preferable to check the property certificates and tax certificates in advance, or to consult the local tax administration, a reliable property broker, and not to lose money because the policy is not clear. After all, selling a house is a big deal, and every money has to be calculated in order to be easy and safe。
