China's personal income tax revenue slows sharply

BEIJING - The Chinese government saw its fiscal revenue from personal income tax drop 3.9 percent year on year in 2012, sharply down from the 25.2-percent growth seen during the previous year, according to latest data from the Ministry of Finance.

It showed that money collected from personal income tax last year totaled 582.02 billion yuan (92.69 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for 5.8 percent of total fiscal revenue.

The government's tax reduction measures, including hikes in exemption thresholds for personal income tax and adjustments in taxation rates, have affected the revenue, said an official from the ministry.

Price corrections in used homes also decreased the revenue from property transfer income tax last year, according to the ministry.

The data showed the tax revenue from wage-earners dropped 8 percent year on year, while that from individual business owners declined 12.5 percent. In contrast, combined revenue from income tax on interests, dividends and bonuses grew 14.7 percent.

The government raised the exemption threshold for the personal income tax to 3,500 yuan from 2,000 yuan starting September 2011, scrapping the tax for around 60 million people.