Two decades of tax-sharing system reform in China:a comparative study

Two decades have passed since the Tax-sharing System Reform began in China.We discuss deep-seated problems in the financial management system.We contend that from the point of fiscal relations among different levels of government,the marked decline of the central government’s fiscal revenue as a share of the national total indicates that the macroeconomic regulation and control function of the central government has weakened;from the point of the form of fiscal revenue,the constant downward trend of the proportion of the tax revenue indicates that the old problem of excessive types of fiscal revenue forms have reappeared;from the perspective of tax structure,although the proportion of direct taxes has grown,turnover tax continues to account for the majority of tax revenue and the unbalanced dual-subject tax system has changed little,which indicates China’s tax structure has brought about stagnation.We believe that China’s tax reform should be incorporated into the medium-term fiscal planning in order to solve deep-seated problems in operation of the financial management system.

A review of tax-sharing reform and related thoughts

Begun in 1994,tax-sharing reform in China has been a major adjustment to and innovation within the taxation and fiscal system.Yet,despite its sound policy effects on the economy,there is still room for improvement.This essay starts with a review of its implementation and problems over the past 20 years,and based on that,seeks to discuss some enablers of deeper fiscal reform.The essay also goes into details in the analysis of measures for completing a hierarchical fiscal system,making the division of administrative power more rational,having a clearer definition of centrally and locally owned revenues,optimizing the transfer payment system,and improving the fiscal system below the provincial level.

Intergovernmental fiscal relations:a case for division of tax power

In handling the fiscal relations between the central and local governments,especially in relation to taxation,the method of revenue-sharing has been widely adopted.Findings of this study show that when the intergovernmental division of administrative authority and spending responsibility is relatively stable,tax-sharing is superior to revenue-sharing,and that tax-sharing should take precedent over revenue-sharing in future tax and fiscal reforms.Reform initiatives should include measures to significantly reduce value-added tax(VAT)rates and classify it as central tax,to collect retail sales tax in commodity consumption as a local tax and to cancel the business tax.Under this system,the main types of taxes levied by the central government include VAT,corporate income tax and consumption tax,personal income tax is imposed by provincial governments,retail sales tax by county governments.