China Intensifies Tax Collection on High-Income Earners, Overseas Income Back Taxes Reach 58.5 Billion Yuan in First Five Months

(Central News Agency, Taipei, 10th) China's State Taxation Administration stated that through continuous strengthening of publicity and policy guidance on overseas income of resident individuals, the compliance of taxpayers with overseas income has significantly improved. The cumulative back taxes from January to May reached 130 billion yuan (approximately NT$585 billion).

According to a compilation of reports from Chinese media outlets First Financial and Sina News today, data shows that from January to May, China's personal income tax revenue was 764.39 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12%.

In a press release, the State Taxation Administration pointed out that tax authorities have continuously strengthened publicity and policy guidance on overseas income of resident individuals. The compliance of taxpayers with overseas income has significantly improved, with cumulative back taxes of 130 billion yuan from January to May. Furthermore, tax supervision in the entertainment and live-streaming sectors has been continuously strengthened. Through big data, tax-related issues of practitioners are promptly identified and corrected, further enhancing taxpayer compliance awareness and tax adherence.

Huang Lixin, Director of the Institute of Tax Science under the State Taxation Administration, stated that the rapid growth in personal income tax revenue is mainly due to three reasons: first, the active capital market driving high growth in related income items; second, rapid tax payment growth in some industries; and third, the tax authorities' continuous strengthening of tax guidance for high-income earners, leading to increased revenue.

Huang explained that the improvement in the A-share market this year has driven rapid growth in personal income tax. Comprehensive calculations show that the active capital market contributed nearly 50% to the growth of personal income tax.

China's economy has slowed in recent years, and tax revenue has been declining annually. In 2021, the authorities issued the "Opinions on Further Deepening the Reform of Tax Collection and Administration," proposing the construction of smart taxation, promoting the transformation of tax collection to "data-based tax governance," and utilizing technologies such as big data, blockchain, and artificial intelligence to comprehensively strengthen audits. (Editor: Zhou Huiying / Chen Kaiyu) 1150610