Public response to tax law

As the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, ended a month-long soliciting of public feedback on the draft amendment to the Personal Income Tax (PIT) Law on Tuesday, people are now concerned about whether or not the draft amendment will be adapted to reflect mainstream public opinion.

Since the draft amendment, which proposes the tax threshold be raised to 3,000 yuan ($460) a month from the current 2,000 yuan and the current nine brackets of the rating system be reduced to seven, was submitted to the top legislature in late April, the public has expressed unprecedented concerns. On the first day of its publication, the NPC received more than 100,000 responses and it had now collected more than 230,000, a record high for a single draft law.

In a move to further interact with the public, the NPC invited 16 public representatives on May 20 for face-to-face talks with relevant officials from its law and financial and economic affairs committees, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation, departments that all have a role in deciding the final amendment.