No taxation on adding spouse's name on property

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China's finance ministry said Thursday that married couples will not be taxed for adding a spouse's name to the property ownership certificate, which came in wake of local tax bureaus' recent introduction of such taxation policies.

The Ministry of Finance said in a statement on its website that spouses are not required to pay tax when obtaining part-ownership of their spouses' property by adding their names to ownership certificates.

The new policy came into effect Wednesday, the ministry said.

Local tax bureaus announced plans to levy taxes on the registration of new property ownership within marriage after last month's controversial judicial explanation of the Marriage Law. The city of Nanjing had announced a 3-percent tax for the transference of property, while Wuhan had set a 4-percent rate.

The new judicial explanation, which took effect on August 13, stipulated that property bought by one party prior to marriage is to be deemed the personal property of the registered owner, not the couple's joint estate.

This spurred many women to try to have themselves registered as co-owners on property in order to feel secure in their marriage and be entitled to at least half of the home in case of divorce.