A security person stands in the rain near a depiction of a dragon at a shopping district in Beijing, July 30, 2024. Construction cranes are seen near the China Zun, the tallest building in Beijing, July 30, 2024. An entrance covered with overgrown plants is seen near an abandoned construction project on the outskirts of Beijing, Thursday, July 25, 2024. A man on an electric bike passes by the State Administration of Taxation in Beijing, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024.
That will be easier said than done, and experts question how thoroughly the party will follow through on its pledges to improve the tax regime and better balance control of government revenues.Japan’s defense minister begins visits to Cambodia and Vietnam, both under Beijing’s shadow“They are not grappling with existing local debt problems, nor the constraints on fiscal capacity,” said Logan Wright of the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm.
“The central government doesn’t have a lot of responsibility for spending, so it doesn’t feel the pain of cutting taxes,” said Cui Wei, a professor of Chinese and international tax policy at the University of British Columbia. The State Taxation Administration has denied launching a nationwide crackdown, which might imply past enforcement was lax. Tax authorities have “always been strict about preventing and investigating illegal taxation and fee collection,” the administration said in a statement last month.
The hunt for revenue isn’t limited to taxes. In the past few years, local authorities have drawn criticism for slapping large fines on drivers and street vendors, similar to how cities like Chicago or San Francisco earn millions from parking tickets. Despite pledges by top leaders to eliminate fines as a form of revenue collection, the practice continues, with city residents complaining that Shanghai police use drones and traffic cameras to catch drivers using their mobile phones at red lights.