The Beijing Municipal Tax Service, a unit of the State Taxation Administration, said in a brief statement that it was pursuing the inquiry after a report prompted it to conduct an analysis, without giving further details.

SOHO China did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shares in the company tumbled last month after Blackstone Group Inc scrapped what would have been China's largest real estate buyout.

SOHO China is 64% owned by the husband-and-wife founding team of Chairman Pan Shiyi and Chief Executive Zhang Xin, who have been scouting for buyers for its prime commercial property assets as they looked to shift their focus to overseas markets.

(Reporting by Albee Zhang and Brenda Goh; editing by John Stonestreet and Mark Heinrich)