Chinese divorce to avoid property tax: Report

SHANGHAI (AFP) - Chinese couples are flocking to divorce to avoid a new tax property sales tax imposed by the government, after it left open a loophole for those who end their marriages.

Government marriage registration offices - which also handle divorces - were swamped by scores of couples trying to untie the knot, with one newly-separated woman telling AFP on Wednesday she was heading off to sell a property.

China's central government last Friday issued rules to rein in housing prices, including a nationwide capital gains tax of 20 per cent on profits owners make from selling residential property.

But the terms allow couples with two properties who divorce and put each house into one person's name to then sell them tax-free under certain conditions, after which they can remarry, state media said.