China reiterated that it has no plans to tax capital gains, contrary to market speculation, the official Shanghai Securities News reported, citing the State Administration of Taxation (SAT).

Currently, China requires individuals with annual personal income of over 120,000 yuan to submit a tax disclosure form.

Speculation of a gains tax arose when the 2007 tax form required detailed disclosures of individual gains from property and stock transactions.

Yang Suizhou, an SAT vice director, said at a news briefing that details of a new resource tax scheme will be announced this year.

He said the SAT is finalizing details of the resource tax after consulting the State Council, or cabinet, and the new scheme will focus on a shift to taxation by price instead of volume and an expansion of the list of taxable resources.

Yang's speech was in line with a statement released by Ministry of Finance earlier, but the finance ministry withdrew the statement shortly after it was posted and denied it issued the statement.

That statement said the finance ministry has proposed a 10 pct resource tax on crude oil output, with the rate at 5 pct in the initial stages of implementation. In addition, the resource tax on crude oil will be adjusted based on oil prices, and the central government will raise the volume-based levy on other resources.

Yang said that there is still no timetable for the introduction of a fuel tax, which was first proposed in 1994. It has been delayed amid concerns that it may impose too great a burden on bus and taxi operators.

Yang said the SAT will choose 3-5 additional regions to run pilot operations for the new property tax, without giving details. But he added that there is still no timetable for the launch of the tax.

In 2007, China launched trials for a new property tax in 10 Chinese regions, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Chongqing, as well as Liaoning, Jiangsu, Anhui, Fujian, Henan provinces and northwestern China's Ningxia.

According to media reports, the property tax is expected to be introduced this year as part of a unified property tax bringing together housing property tax, city real estate tax, land value-added tax and land leasing fees.