BEIJING, Dec. 12 -- Shanghai residents will be allowed to have their employers or qualified intermediaries submit their newly required annual tax returns, according to detailed rules issued recently by city authorities.

The clarified rules should help make it easier for the large number of locals who never had to bother with tax forms before.

The new reporting system is meant to ensure higher compliance with income tax requirements, authorities said.

Starting with this tax year, people who earn more than 120,000 yuan (15,311 U.S. dollars) annually must file a tax report listing all income, including salaries, royalties, dividends and gains from property rental. Except for diplomats, all resident expatriates must also comply.

A tax return must be filed within three months of the end of the year, even if a worker's employer has already submitted an income statement, the State Tax Administration said in its new rule in November.

China's personal income tax is levied in 11 categories and ranges from five percent to 45 percent.

The administration's Shanghai bureau issued policy details on its Website over the weekend.

It wasn't immediately clear how individuals would get their employers to file returns on their behalf, but qualified accounting firms will apparently be allowed to serve as tax intermediaries.

The bureau also said that individual returns must be filed before March 31 or the taxpayer will face a fine up to 10,000 yuan.

Tax evaders will be subject to fines up to five times the amount involved.

Tax returns can be submitted online or through the mail.

Internet processing will begin on January 20. Those who decide to use the service must first go to a local tax authority to receive an online application code.

Forms, both in Chinese and English, can be downloaded from the tax authority's Website (www.csj.sh.gov.cn) or at post offices.

Taxpayers have to fill out the forms in Chinese, and expats must use both Chinese and English.