Down With Income Taxes

By WANG JUN

Down With Income Taxes

By WANG JUN

China increases its income tax exemption threshold to reduce tax burdens on low-wage earners

As a company clerk, 32-year-old Ren Jun doesn’t make a lot of money. Of his meager paycheck, he needs to pay about 250 yuan ($39) in taxes each month. From September, Ren will catch a break—his taxes will be signifcantly reduced to about 30 yuan ($4.69). As of September 1, amendments to China’s individual income tax law, highlighted by an increased monthly tax exemption threshold, will be implemented.

The amended law raises the monthly tax exemption threshold from 2,000 yuan ($313) to 3,500 yuan ($547). It also lowers the minimum tax rate from 5 percent to 3 percent for people whose monthly taxable incomes are between 3,500 yuan and 4,500 yuan ($703).

Before amendment, the individual income tax law stated that people who earn less than 2,000 yuan per month were exempt from income taxes. The draft amendment, submitted on April 20 for the frst reading to the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s top legislature, proposed the threshold be raised to 3,000 yuan ($469).

In April, the State Council proposed raising the income tax exemption threshold from 2,000 yuan to 3,000 yuan with the aim of boosting domestic demand and reducing tax burdens on low-wage earners.

The proposal was published online to solicit opinions from the public. According to the NPC’s website, as of May 31, 82,707 people had commented on the draft amendment, and about 83 percent were dissatisfed with the threshold of 3,000 yuan.

During the second reading of the draft by the NPC on June 28, the exemption threshold was still 3,000 yuan, but the minimum tax rate was lowered from 5 percent to 3 percent.

On June 30, the final amendment was approved by the NPC, raising the threshold to 3,500 yuan.

Adequate raise

“The adjustment of the tax exemption threshold echoes the voice of society,” said Gao Peiyong, Director of the Institute of Finance and Trade Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). “Since this year, infation pressure has increased and the income gap has expanded. These two problems need to be solved. Raising the tax exemption threshold is a tax adjustment measure to alleviate the problem of the income distribution system.”

China promulgated the individual income tax law in 1980, which fixed the tax exemption threshold at 800 yuan ($125). The average monthly salary of working staff at that time was just 63.5 yuan ($9.9). In 1994 the individual income tax law was amended, but the exemption threshold was still 800 yuan. In 2006 and 2008, China raised the threshold to 1,600 yuan ($250) and 2,000 yuan, respectively.

But the threshold increase still lags behind rising consumer prices. According to fgures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in 2010 the consumer price index rose by 3.3 percent and in the frst half of 2011, the index rose by 5.4 percent year on year. Food prices increased 7.2 percent last year and surged 11.8 percent in the frst half of this year.

In contrast, government revenue from income tax has increased rapidly. According to fgures from the NBS and the Ministry of Finance (MOF), since 1994 individual income tax revenue has increased at an annual average rate of 34 percent, the fastest among all taxes. In 2009 China collected individual income taxes of 394.94 billion yuan ($61.71 billion), accounting for 6.64 percent of the total tax revenue of the country.

The Beijing-based Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE) published a report in May, saying that China’s current tax burden is heavier than many middle- and upper-income countries. The research suggests that the government reduce tax rates while increasing spending in crucial areas such as healthcare and education.

“When the costs for residents to maintain basic lives have changed significantly, it is natural for the tax exemption threshold to be adjusted and the threshold is likely to further increase in the future in accordance with price changes,” said Bai Jingming, Deputy Director of the Research Institute for Fiscal Science affliated to the MOF.

Alleviated burden

“Under the new amendment, about 7.7 percent of wage earners will have to pay tax, down from the current 28 percent,” said Wang Jianfan, head of the tax policy department of the MOF. The number of income tax payers will be reduced from 84 million to 24 million.

Wang said by readjusting the income tax rate structure, the government will alleviate tax burdens on most wage earners.

After the introduction of the new tax rate, the income tax revenue of the government will be reduced by 160 billion yuan ($25 billion) each year, Wang said. After the new law is implemented in September, the government will receive 53 billion yuan ($8.28 billion) less in tax revenue in the last four months of 2011.

Liu Zuo, Director of the Taxation Science Research Institute of the State Administration of Taxation, said that before payment of income taxes, 8 percent of basic pension insurance, 2 percent of basic medical insurance, 1 percent of unemployment insurance and 12 percent of housing provident fund will be deducted frst from the wages.

“That means people whose monthly wages are below 4,545 yuan ($710) won’t have to pay income tax,” Liu said.

For example, after the adjustment a person who earns 5,000 yuan ($781) each month only needs to pay tax of 10.5 yuan ($1.64) after deduction of social insurance and housing provident fund, with the tax burden reduced by 93.4 percent.

However, for people with high incomes, the tax burden has increased. After the exemption is raised to 3,500 yuan, people who earn more than 38,600 yuan ($6,031) must pay a higher income tax.

Still not enough

“The adjustment this time doesn’t involve non-wage incomes, such as stock dividends and other investment incomes, hence it will have little influence on high-income earners,” said Liu Yi, a professor at the School of Economics of Peking University. She said China should incorporate more people with high incomes into the tax system and adopt an individual income taxation scheme that incorporates not only wages.

Liu Huan, Vice Dean of the School of Taxation of CUFE, thought adjustment of the income tax threshold should be more “elastic,” considering different regional economic development levels and prices changes and allowing local governments to make adjustments in accordance with local conditions. He said tax exemption threshold should also be connected with CPI changes, being adjusted once or twice a year.

Raising the tax threshold is not enough to solve all the problems. He Zhenyi, a researcher at the Institute of Economics of CASS, said to alleviate the impact of infation on ordinary people, “we should not just rely on raising the threshold of individual income tax exemption.”

“Low- and middle-income earners are worst affected by infation, but their monthly incomes may not reach the exemption threshold of 3,500 yuan, hence the adjustment this time will bring almost no benefts to them,”He said.

Tax to Pay for Monthly Taxable Income

Adjustments to the Income Tax Threshold

Income Tax Threshold for Foreigners in China (yuan)