Shanghai's tax revenue grew 27 percent year on year to 197.5 billion yuan (US$30.34 billion) in the first quarter of this year but the growth was less than the national level of a 32.4 percent increase.

The taxman received a total of 18,960 applications over the past three months from property owners for property tax verification, Gu Ju, head of the local tax bureau, said in an online discussion with netizens yesterday. Of the 2,306 houses that have been verified as taxable properties, about 20 of the owners have paid their taxes.

Shanghai and Chongqing announced on January 27 that they would launch a property tax trial to battle speculation in the housing market which has been widely blamed for soaring prices. Shanghai imposes a tax of 0.6 percent or 0.4 percent, depending on the price of the house, on local families who already own one or more homes as well as newly-purchased houses by non-local families.

During the online chat, some netizens also questioned the efficiency of the tax bureau as they complained about having to visit its office frequently and dealing with rude tax officials. They also suggested simplified procedures for tax filing.

Gu promised the tax bureau will improve its services.