The Beijing Local Taxation Bureau on Thursday refuted a rumor that it has drawn up a plan for a pilot property tax program.

The Beijing-based China Times newspaper cited unnamed sources from the bureau as saying Wednesday that the bureau had submitted to the State Council a plan for imposing a property tax on homeowners whose per capita living area exceeded 24 square meters.

Following the news, share prices in real estate firms saw a dramatic fall Thursday, with China Merchants Property Development Co, one of the leading developers, seeing a 5.96 percent drop to close at 28.58 yuan ($4.59) per share.

"The staff members of our bureau never received any interview from China Times," the tax bureau said Thursday.

Expansion of the property tax pilot programs has been a hot topic ever since

Chongqing and Shanghai launched the program in 2011.

Global Times