Taxation in the People’s Republic of China

Focusing on China’s domestic system of taxation, this book offers an analysis of each type of taxation and the tax system as a whole, within the broader context of the nation’s economic and fiscal structure. It benefits from the author’s access to Chinese materials as well as personal contacts with Chinese government officials and Western lawyers and businessmen working in China. Tracing the evolution of taxation in China from the early feudal period to the present, the author reviews the long history of various forms of taxation, some of which have been in existence for thousands of years. He then looks at the use of taxation as an instrument of the socialist economy in the years immediately following the Communist revolution, during the period of closed central planning and in the recent movement toward an open market economy. Current tax policy is analyzed in six chapters, each dealing with a specific form of taxation. Throughout the book, the author explores the relationship of tax policy to other aspects of the Chinese economy, including economic planning, price and wage policies, the state budget and financial system, and government policies regarding property ownership and private enterprise.