An Assessment of China's New Round of Reform of the Fiscal and Taxation Systems

Based on the Decisions of the CPC Central Committee on Some Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reforms and the Overall Plan on Deepening Fiscal and Tax Reforms, this paper presents a systematic assessment of the progress of China's new round of fiscal and tax reforms from November 2013 to October 2016 with the following findings. Reform of the budgetary management system has yielded initial results yet remains in the preliminary stage. While progress has been made in reforming indirect taxes, the reform of direct taxes is slow and presents a major obstacle. Despite breakthroughs, the progress of public finance reforms remains slow and impedes reforms on other fronts. Fiscal and tax reforms are uneven and should be implemented in coordination. Fiscal and tax reforms should more vigorously support overall reforms.

Overview of the Reports on the Reformation of Personal Income Taxation

Presentation of the reports on the reformation of personal income taxation that have been prepared with a development plan for the Greek economy,that discuss the issue of taxation and point out its important features.The goal is the complete modernization of the tax system,so that it responds more fully to the principles of social justice,contributes to the economic development of the country and is governed by simple and modern procedures,which apply to all tax objects.The purpose of the study is to deepen the proposals for tax reform based on the peculiarities of the Greek economy,the international trends in this field and the weaknesses of the tax system.The effects of a tax reformation are analyzed and how it should take the form of the reform,which,however,requires a new legislation,which will bring about radical and deep cuts,which respond to the new conditions and the internationalization of the economy.Proposals for a set of structural measures,which are necessary for the country’s adaptation to the wider European environment and the elimination of the weaknesses that increase its distance from the other member countries.Citation of the common points of the reports on the reformation of personal income taxation and their adoption by the tax leadership.

Reforms on China＇s Fiscal System and Its Impact on Local Government Behavior

The fiscal system is an important part of national economic management and deals with the division of financial responsibility and power, regulates and defines the fiscal activities among different levels of governments. The changes in economic system and economic structure decide the changes of fiscal function and fiscal structure, which results in the changes in intergovernmental distribution form and local government behavior. This paper takes a look at the stages of China＇s fiscal reform process and the impacts on local government behavior, and tries to find measures for perfecting the fiscal system reform to optimize local government behavior and guarantee a healthy national economy.

The Impacts of Tax Procedures Reform on Business Environment in Vietnam： Achievements and Further Reforms

Tax procedures are factors that strongly affect the business environment. A simple and convenient tax procedures system will contribute to a good business environment by easing of tax returns preparation, reducing tax compliance costs, and preventing corruption. This paper examines the results and impacts of previous tax procedures reform on Vietnam＇s business environment, identifies challenges of tax procedures reform now and the coming years, and discusses areas where further reforms are needed to sustain tax revenue and reduce compliance costs including： （1） wansparent and comprehensive guidance to all tax laws and other legal tax documents; （2） widening the application of risk management in tax administration; （3） continuing simplification of tax procedures; and （4） development of IT in tax administration.

Study on the reform of resource tax and sustainable development of the underdeveloped resource-rich regions in China

The underdeveloped resource-rich region in China refers to the underdeveloped region with abundantnatural resources. The problem for these regions sustainable development cannot be negligible for its particularity innatural resources and environment. This paper mainly examines the issue about resource tax reform and the sustainabledevelopment of underdeveloped resource-rich regions. It first expatiates on regional characteristics of underdevelopedresource-rich regions, then analyzes the effect that resource tax has on the sustainable development of this type of regions,takes Yulin City as example to illuminate the negative influence on the sustainable development of those regions due to thedesign limitation of the existing resource tax, and put forward some suggestions, including to delegate tax legislativepower to lower levels, to increase resource tax rate, to expand its levied scope to give play to the potential main tax to localrevenue, to improve the design of resource tax, to enhance the its function of resource saving and environmentalprotection, to attach importance to regional interest of underdeveloped resource-rich regions and to improve of theinterest distribution system concerning the tax system and resource exploitation.

Roadmap for China's fiscal and tax reform

China’s tax and fiscal reform will continue to advance on the course of public finance rapidly in the coming decade, andbecome the forerunner of reform and socioeconomic development.In the coming years, the reform will focus on threethemes: the fiscal and tax system, policies, and administration.The key element is to develop a fiscal and tax systemthat allocates compatible financial resources and administrative power to various levels of government.Fiscal and taxpolicies will play a critical role in transforming China’s economic growth pattern.To accomplish these goals, Chinaneeds a scientific and refined fiscal administration.These elements will form a system of great synergy.

China＇s Real Estate Tax Reform： Past, Present and Future

Since 1978, China＇s reform of real estate tax has made great strides with important milestones marked by the resumption of real estate tax collection on Chinese- funded enterprises and Chinese nationals. In the llth Five-Year Plan period （2006-2010）, the state administration completed the unification of tax rates for domestic and foreign- funded companies. However, the reform of real estate tax still requires many modifications during the 12th Five-Year Plan period （2011-2015）. The new plan should strive to streamline the tax system, adjust the tax base and tax rates, and delegate taxing authority.

Taxpayers Fraudulent Behavior Modeling The Use of Datamining in Fiscal Fraud Detecting Moroccan Case

The fraudulent behavior of taxpayers impacts negatively the resources available to finance public services. It creates distortions of competition and inequality, harming honest taxpayers. Such behavior requires the government intervention to bring order and establish a fiscal justice. This study emphasizes the determination of the interactions linking taxpayers with tax authorities. We try to see how fiscal audit can influence taxpayers’ fraudulent behavior. First of all, we present a theoretical study of a model pre established by other authors. We have released some conditions of this model and we have introduced a new parameter reflecting the efficiency of tax control;we found that the efficiency of a fiscal control have an important effect on these interactions. Basing on the fact that the detection of fraudulent taxpayers is the most difficult step in fiscal control, We established a new approach using DATA MINING process in order to improve fiscal control efficiency. We found results that reflect fairly the conduct of taxpayers that we have tested based on actual statistics. The results are reliable.

Design and impact estimation of a reform program of China's tax and fee policies for low-grade oil and gas resources

With China＇s rapid economic development,it is important to formulate reasonable and feasible tax and fee policies to promote the development and utilization of low-grade oil and gas resources to guarantee China＇s energy supply security.In this paper,by analyzing major problems of China＇s current tax and fee policies for oil and gas resources,a reform program for low-grade oil and gas resources is designed from the aspects of tax/fee items and tax/fee rates.The impacts of this reform program on China and China＇s oil companies during the ＂Twelfth Five-Year Plan＂ are investigated according to the related data in 2008.The results show that the proposed tax and fee reform program will lower the tax burden of oil companies,promote the development of low-grade oil and gas resources,and increase China＇s GDP and national fiscal revenue.Besides that,it will bring positive social effects by increasing employment opportunities.

The Effect of Tax as an Instrument of Fiscal Policy in Kosovo

This paper analyzes and discusses the tax system applied in Kosovo during the period from 1999 until now. It demonstrates the effects of tax policies on the country＇s economic growth and development of businesses in general. This paper also addresses the impact of those policies in maintaining the social equilibrium of a population and economic stability of the country. Applied tax policies in Kosovo have been aimed more at maintaining a stable fiscal and budgetary policy. Based on the analysis of real cases of Kosovo tax laws and their impact on particular businesses, this paper will demonstrate how tax policies applied in Kosovo have given less attention to the need of economic development, which should have been reflected through promoting the development of domestic production, reduction of unemployment, and reduction of the high trade deficit. Empirical evidence from this analysis is discussed, conclusions are derived, and the recommendations of this paper are provided.

The Distributional Impacts of Fiscal Consolidation in Uganda

While Uganda is considered to be at low risk of debt distress,the stagnant tax effort and large planned capital expenditures might significantly alter this position.This paper employs the Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium(DSGE)model to examine tax design issues that arise in addressing debt increases.The results suggest that Uganda may improve it debt position by permanently increasing tax rates by 5%point.However,an increase of consumption tax rates(Value Added Tax(VAT)and Excise)by this magnitude to meet debt reduction is found to be relatively more distortionary affecting consumption,especially for the poor households,in both the short and long run leading to large temporary reductions in the Gross Domestic Product(GDP).

The uniform enterprise income tax reform in China

In China, the income tax of enterprise is very different between foreign funded enterprises and other domestic enterprises. It is believed that this discrimination is harmful to the entire economy. So there is a reform in the tax system to build a uniform enterprise income tax. This is a significant reform in China＇s tax system, so every decision about this have to count the cost and the benefit carefully. The author has introduced the Computable General Equilibrium （CGE） to simulate this new tax system and value its benefit and cost. There are two different models in the paper; they are of different assumptions and for different purposes. Model I is a static CGE model and model II is a Ramsey Dynamic model. The static model is mainly used for comparative static approach to examine how the tax reform will change the endogenous variables. According to the results of the model, more goods will be produced by both of the DFEs and FIEs after the tax reform in the medium and low tax effective tax rate situations. If the nominal tax rates decrease 24.24% （from 33% to 25%）, the enterprise income tax will only reduce 19.36% and the total tax revenue will only reduce 1.911%. The dynamic model will concentrate on the costs and benefits during the transition. From the results of the model, a lower tax rate will increase the level of investment, capital stock, capital prices, wage rate and also the growth rates through transition. If the capital tax rates are changed gradually, the fluctuating of transition will be smoothed a little.

CHINA'S TAX SYSTEM REFORM

Since the beginning of 1994,Chinahas conducted a series of majorreform of the systems of taxation,finance,foreign trade and investment,achieving remarkable progress,whichhas played a good role in promotingthe establishment and developmentof the socialist market economic system.Not long ago,Xiang Huaicheng,DeputyDirector-General of the State TaxationBureau,made an introduction to thestate of China’s tax system reform anddevelopment trend to Chinese andforeign reporters.

Research on the Reform of Real Estate Taxation in the Personal Housing Ownership Link

Housing is related to the well-being of people’s livelihood,but at present,the real estate market is overheated,and the price of commercial housing remains high.The implementation of the reform of real estate tax in Shanghai and Chongqing has aroused heated discussions in the society.A timely promotion of real estate tax reform and legislation can play a role in tax regulation.This study takes the reform of real estate tax in regard to personal housing ownership link as the research theme and discusses the setting of collection scheme,the application of tax evaluation technology,as well as tax collection and management.

Research on Optimizing the Tax Business Environment - Taking Shunde Taxation Bureau's Innovation Reform as an Example

Since 2013,optimizing the business environment has become China's national strategy.In recent years,the Party and the government have continuously introduced a series of new measures such as the'"streamline administration,delegate power,strengthen regulation,and improve services55 reform to promote the continuous optimization of the business environment.As an important part of the business environment,the tax business environment is of great significance to improve the business environment and promote economic development.By analyzing the current situation of the tax business environment in China,this article discusses the existing problems in the process of optimizing tax business environment in China.Taking Shunde Taxation Bureau's innovative reform of tax business environment optimization as an example,this article introduces the practical innovation and promotion of optimizing tax business environment from four aspects:promoting convenience,digitalization,legalization,and intensive reform,in order to provide relevant experience for the optimization of tax business environment in other areas of China.

China’s internal and external economic imbalances and fiscal reform

China’s ballooning current account surplus has caused a plethora of adverse effects on the healthy development of its economy.Based on an in-depth analysis of the contributory factors to the swelling current account surplus,this paper purports to demonstrate theoretically and empirically that while the chronic savings-consumption imbalance is an important contributor to China’s huge trade surplus,the fundamental underlying contributor is the income structure and savings structure imbalance stemming from the disproportionate increase in retained earnings relative to stagnant wage bills.Corporate retained earnings keep growing rapidly because corporate profit margins are"overstated"and state-owned enterprises"do not pay dividends."Only when these issues are resolved at the institutional level can the savings rate be reduced to an appropriate level with domestic demand boosted to eliminate excess trade surpluses and fundamentally fix internal and external economic imbalances.

Value-added Tax and Leverage:Evidence from China's Value-added Tax Rate Reform

This paper uses China's value-added tax(VAT)rate reform as a quasi-natural experiment to identify the impacts of VAT rate shocks on corporate financial leverage.The results indicate that the reform reduced corporate total leverage significantly.There was a decrease in short-term leverage,but long-term leverage showed no significant change.These results remained robust across a series of robustness checks.Mechanism analysis shows that increasing profitability and improving cash flows acted as intermediary channels for the reform's impact on leverage.The reform also contributed to the mitigation of the asset–liability mismatch problem and the reduction of debt risk,while having no apparent impact on corporate investments.Finally,enterprises with more elastic demand and those with lower intermediate input ratios were affected most by the deleveraging effect of the VAT rate reform.This study suggests how the VAT rate cut shaped corporate capital structure.It thus helps to explain the economic consequences of VAT rate shocks.

CHINA'S REGIONAL DISPARITY IN 1981-2000:OPENNESS AND DEVELOPMENT OF NON-STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES AND FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION

While China's economic growth has been impressive since 1978, regional disparity in terms of provincial per capita GDP has been increasing. On the other hand, this rapid but uneven growth was accompanied by China's deepening openness and structural reforms including the development of non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs) and fiscal decentralization. Based on quantitative analyses, this paper tries to explore the features of regional disparity in China and the relationships between regional growth and China's openness and economic structure reforms in the period from 1981 to 2000. The paper finds that the catching-up of the coastal region to the initially rich provinces, which are mainly located in inland areas, brought about a convergence of the growth pattern across provinces in the 1980s.The subsequent divergence in the provincial growth rates between the coast and the interior generated an enlarging regional disparity in China in the 1990s. The ever-faster growth in the coastal region was benefited by China's openness and the development of non-state-owned enterprises. The development of non-state-owned enterprises underlies the higher operational efficiency in the coastal region. Additionally, with the insignificant regression results, fiscal decentralization was observed to facilitate faster growth in the coast region. The findings justify the initiative of the 'West Region Development Strategy' and offer some policy implications for China.

County-Level Tax Sharing:A Statistical Basis for Measuring China's Fiscal Decentralization

Controversies exist in literature regarding what indicators should be employed to measure China's fiscal decentralization. This paper measures China's fiscal decentralization by the sharing ratios of county-level VAT and corporate income tax(CIT). This approach avoids such problems as homogeneous denominator, and reflects the intricate interactions between governments at different levels. Based on extensive sources including the National Fiscal Statistical Information at Prefecture and County Levels and China County(City) Socio-Economic Statistical Yearbook over the 1998-2007 period, our estimation and analysis led to the following findings:(1) Since 2002, counties have retained a falling share of revenues;(2) a multidimensional horizontal comparison reveals a pattern in the county-level tax sharing ratio, i.e. counties in central and eastern regions retain a higher share of tax revenues compared with those in western and northwestern regions.These findings explain the fiscal difficulties at the grassroots level, and can be used to conduct a quantitative analysis of the determinants and economic effects of China's fiscal decentralization."

Why Has China's Tax Revenue Doubled the GDP Growth Rate in the Past 13 Years?

After 12 years’ sustained and rapid growth,China’s tax revenue is exhibiting a more robust increasing trend at the beginning of the 11th Five-year Plan period,which has aroused more significant implications for macroeconomic operation and the overall economic and social development course.Starting from an analysis of the relation between tax revenue and current tax system,the paper intends to find out the unusual factors supporting China’s sustained and rapid tax increase.On this basis,the paper provides policy judgments and puts forward relevant policy recommendations.