Recent remarks in an official publication have rekindled expectations that China’s annual residential property tax, a long-awaited plan whose progress virtually stalled for years, has made progress in the legislative pipeline, as China seeks to curb overblown home prices.

China’s finance minister, Xiao Jie has hinted that the property tax, once unveiled, may lend greater sway to local authorities in setting rates, devising their own methods of assessing home values, as well as determining other criteria for the levy.

He suggested that the nation’s first annual property taxation system might be designed with principles in mind that include rolling out formal legislations before announcing further pilot programs, granting full authorization to local governments, and taking gradual steps in their enforcement.

These ideas, as part of a paper by the minister regarding the nation’s fiscal and taxation overhaul, were included in a volume of reading material accompanying the recent 19th CPC party congress report. They offered a glimpse into what China’s property tax policy might potentially become.

Millions of China’s homeowners have for years waited with bated breath for a comprehensive property tax law, which “may play a vital role in dampening home speculation activities, paired with existing administrative tools,” said Yan Yuejin, the director of Shanghai-based real estate think tank Ehouse. “Under these purposes, the tax would be widely applauded by people who are not looking to flip property,” he says.

Residential property owners in China are usually only charged a one-off tax for their purchase, which means they can afford to have homes sit vacant, as long as they relying on off steeply ascending real estate prices to drive up resale gains.

The exception lies in Shanghai and Chongqing, a city in China’s interior, who introduced pilot programs levying the tax in 2011. The trial project in Shanghai chiefly targets out-of-town homeowners and Shanghai citizens purchasing multiple homes, the municipality charging annually, a 0.4 percent tax on the assessed home value, which in the city means 70 percent of the purchase price. In Chongqing, only luxury homes or villas are liable to property taxes.

Analysts believe that the pending tax policy is likely to adopt more intricate value assessment calculations, which may prove fairer gauge in today’s frothy home market. A shift toward fully furnished homes, as opposed the most commonly available “mao pi fang”-- suites left bare with no renovation, leaving the decisions about electricity, lighting, and flooring and plumbing to the owner--will also allow for a more accurate assessment of the home’s value, says Yan.

Despite the remarks which seem to be long-awaited progress in drafting the law, property taxes are part of a larger reform of the budget and tax system, a much larger and complex project where additional groundwork needs to be laid.