Short answer: China does not levy an inheritance tax, and receiving an inheritance is not itself treated as taxable income. A statutory heir who takes land or housing by inheritance is exempt from deed tax under Article 6(5) of the Deed Tax Law of the PRC. What the inheritance stage costs is fees rather than tax: notarisation, registration, translation and authentication, each charged by the office that handles it. Tax questions arise later, when the property is sold. This page names the provisions and the order of events instead of quoting rates, because rates are revised.

Most overseas heirs begin with one question: how much tax do I pay to inherit a flat in China? The answer splits in two. Inheritance itself carries no tax of its own. What follows it, the sale and the transfer of the money abroad, is where tax rules apply.

Is there an inheritance tax in China?

No. As of 2026 China has not introduced an inheritance tax, and no current tax statute treats the receipt of an inheritance as taxable income. The confusion usually comes from mixing two different moments: inheriting the property, and selling it later. Only the second one attracts income tax.

One tax does reach the inheritance stage, and the law exempts it. Article 2 of the Deed Tax Law of the PRC defines the taxable event as a transfer of title to land or buildings, including the sale, gift and exchange of housing (房屋买卖、赠与、互换), and places the tax on the party receiving the title. Article 6(5) then carves out the case that matters here: statutory heirs who receive land or housing by inheritance (法定继承人通过继承承受土地、房屋权属) are exempt from deed tax.

The exemption has two conditions, and both carry weight: the heir must be a statutory heir, and the transfer must be an inheritance. Who counts as a statutory heir is set by Article 1127 of the Civil Code of the PRC. First order: spouse, children and parents. Second order: siblings, grandparents and maternal grandparents. Where a first-order heir exists, the second order does not inherit. A legacy left to someone outside those orders, such as a friend, an unmarried partner or a carer, is a bequest rather than statutory inheritance, and the deed tax position for a bequest should be confirmed with the competent tax authority before the file is filed.

What the inheritance stage actually costs

The money spent here is service fees, charged by the institution that performs the work under its own current schedule. They are not taxes:

We do not publish amounts or percentage scales. They differ from city to city, rise with property value, and are revised from time to time. Once the property and the family situation are known, the notary office can confirm the exact figures, and we can check them for you.

Tax when the property is sold later

A sale years later is a separate transaction with its own rules. Three items come up, and none of them can be answered with a rate copied from a website.

Individual income tax

Income from the transfer of property (财产转让所得) is generally computed as the transfer price minus the original cost of the property and reasonable expenses. Two practical points decide most files. The original cost is the cost at which the deceased acquired the property, supported by the original purchase contract and receipts, and those papers are often missing by the time the next generation sells. Where the cost cannot be established, the tax authority may assess the tax on a deemed basis. Which method applies, and on which figures, is determined by the competent tax authority.

VAT

Whether VAT applies to a residential sale, and whether it is computed on the full price or on the difference, depends on how long the property has been held, whether it is ordinary or non-ordinary housing, and local practice. These rules are revised, so we do not publish figures here. We run the calculation before you commit to a sale.

Deed tax on the buyer

Deed tax is paid by the buyer, not by the seller or the heir, so it does not reduce what the estate receives. For an inheritance, what matters is the exemption under Article 6(5) described above.

Before the money can leave China

Proceeds from the sale of inherited property leave China through a bank, and tax clearance comes first. The file normally needs the tax payment certificate, the notarial inheritance certificate, the sale contract and the heir's identity documents. It is the bank, not the lawyer, that decides whether the papers meet its requirements on the day of application. We assemble the file in the order the bank expects. The steps are set out in our guide to transferring the proceeds of a Chinese property sale abroad.

If you cannot come to China

Nothing in the inheritance or the tax filing requires the heir to be in Shanghai. A power of attorney signed abroad, notarised and apostilled, lets an agent notarise the inheritance, register the title and file the tax returns on behalf of the heir. The signing and authentication chain is described in the overseas heir's POA for China inheritance.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Is there an inheritance tax in China?

A: No. As of 2026 China has not introduced an inheritance tax, and an inheritance is not taxed as income. A statutory heir who receives land or housing by inheritance is exempt from deed tax under Article 6(5) of the Deed Tax Law of the PRC.

Q: What does it cost to inherit property in China?

A: The inheritance stage is normally free of income tax. What it costs is fees: the notarial fee for inheritance rights, the property registration fee, translation, and the apostille or consular legalisation of documents issued abroad. Each is charged by the office that performs the work under its current schedule, so the amounts have to be confirmed case by case.

Q: What tax applies if I sell the inherited property?

A: Individual income tax is generally calculated on the transfer price minus the original cost and reasonable expenses, and VAT depends on the holding period, the nature of the housing and local practice. Deed tax is paid by the buyer. The competent tax authority determines the basis that applies to your file, which is why we calculate before a sale rather than quote a rate.

Q: Do foreign heirs have to file tax returns in China?

A: Yes, if the property is sold. The sale has to be cleared for tax in China before the proceeds can be purchased as foreign currency and remitted abroad. An heir living overseas can appoint an agent in China to file on their behalf.

Q: Is inheriting better than a gift or a sale?

A: The three routes are taxed differently. A gift usually triggers deed tax, and the recipient's later sale is often treated less favourably than property received by inheritance; a sale is taxed as a transaction; the inheritance stage itself carries the lightest burden of the three. How far apart they are depends on the value, the holding period and local rules, so the comparison has to be run on the actual property.

Talk to us

Tell us where the property is, when it was acquired, roughly how long it has been held, and where the heirs live. We will set out which taxes could apply and in what order they are dealt with. Nothing on this page guarantees an outcome, and none of it replaces advice on your own file.

Contact: +86 173 2109 9752 (phone and WeChat) · zhaohaiying@lantai.cn · Lantai (Shanghai) Law Firm · zhaohaiyinglvshi.com

Sources: National Database of Laws and Regulations: Civil Code of the PRC; Shanghai Tax Service: Deed Tax Law of the PRC. Verified as of 2026-10-13; rates and fee schedules change, so confirm the current position with the tax authority and the office handling your file.

Written by Zhao Haiying, Partner, Lantai (Shanghai) Law Firm.

Related: Cross-border inheritance in China: the full process · Documents needed to inherit China property · Moving sale proceeds out of China · Inheritance POA and Apostille · 中文版