Reporters' Log

No change seen for individual income tax threshold

By Li Weitao (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-03-07 16:52

China currently has no plan to revise the individual income tax threshold, a senior government official said on Friday.

Calls have been growing for the government to raise the 2,000-yuan ($292) personal income tax threshold to stimulate domestic consumption. However, the time is not ripe now for the government to raise the threshold, Liao Xiaojun, vice minister of finance, was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying on the sidelines of annual sessions of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

China raised the threshold from 800 yuan to 1,600 yuan in 2005 and then to 2,000 yuan in 2007, but many people believe the threshold needs to be raised even higher. Some deputies at the CPPCC and the National People's Congress have proposed raising it to at least 3,000 yuan.

Zhou Qiren, a leading Chinese economist, said last November that top lawmakers had already "reached a consensus" to boost the individual income tax threshold soon.

But Liao's remarks indicate that it could take longer for the government to revise the threshold than many had expected.

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