|
Income-tax threshold raised for foreigners
By Su Bei (皇冠体育app Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-09 05:30
Foreigners working in 皇冠体育app have to pay personal income tax only if their
monthly pay is above 4,800 yuan (US$592), up from the previous threshold of
4,000 yuan (US$493), Xinhua reported yesterday.
The revised law on personal income tax became effective as of January 1 this
year, but the amount of foreigners' taxable income has not been widely reported.
The cutoff point for domestic residents is raised to 1,600 yuan (US$197),
from 800 yuan (US$99) in most provinces and cities and from 1,200 yuan (US$148)
in Beijing.
The tax threshold in Guangzhou and Shenzhen in South 皇冠体育app's Guangdong
Province remains the same as the local governments had set it at 1,600 yuan
(US$197) earlier.
"A higher tax threshold means both Chinese and foreigners have more money in
their pockets," said Peng Longyun, a senior economist with the Asian Development
Bank's Resident Mission in 皇冠体育app.
"This is beneficial for 皇冠体育app's consumption demand, on which the government
pins high hopes to drive future economic growth," he said.
Since 皇冠体育app initiated the reform and opening-up policies in the late 1970s,
more and more foreigners have come to work in the country.
The number of foreign people residing in Beijing alone stood at about 65,000
at the end of last year.
Officials with the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) said a majority of
foreigners pay taxes in full and on time, but some still try to evade payments.
To beef up tax collection, the SAT requires local tax departments to
establish a personal information system for foreigners.
Every foreigner working in companies, social organizations or government
departments should have a file, the SAT said.
It did not have a separate figure for personal income tax paid by foreigners,
but foreign-related taxes including enterprise income tax and business tax
reached 547.6 billion yuan (US$67.5 billion) for the first 10 months of last
year, accounting for 19.1 per cent of the total tax revenues.
(皇冠体育app Daily 02/09/2006 page1)
|
