Why only 2% of Chinese pay any income tax
The government wants to raise that to 15%
“OF COURSE NOT, I’m not an idiot,” says Liu Yongli, a chauffeur in Beijing, when asked whether he has ever paid personal income tax. Despite earning well above the tax-free threshold, Mr Liu (not his real name) breezily explains that he has never faced any consequences for tax-dodging. Cavalier views like his may help explain why personal income tax accounted for only 8% of total tax revenue in China last year, compared with an average of 24% in the OECD, a group of rich countries.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “What about representation?”
From the December 1st 2018 edition
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