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Rich should pay more tax
(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-26 07:51
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Rich should pay more tax
Reforming the personal income tax system is crucial to bridging the income gap, and the government can't use an excuse to postpone it indefinitely, says an article in Guangzhou Daily. Excerpts:
National Development and Reform Commission chief Zhang Ping recently said further studies were needed to determine the course of the personal income tax reform. This is disappointing news because personal income tax could play a very important role in curbing the income of the rich and narrowing the wealth gap to an extent.
The government needs not only to raise the tax for the rich, but also reform the entire tax system. The wealthier the people, the more tax they should pay. Taxes should be imposed on a person's total income or wealth, not his/her specific income such as salary, because salary could be just a small percentage of a person's total income.
Lower-income groups, on the other hand, deserve more favorable considerations because of their limited income and high percentage of expenditure. It is necessary to impose personal income tax on the basis of a family's overall income and percentage of expenditure, rather than individual incomes.The government cannot use an excuse to postpone the tax reform indefinitely because that could widen the income gap further.
