Chinese expect more from income tax amendment

As rising inflation and high housing prices erode incomes and add to living costs, residents in large Chinese cities hope to see larger cuts in personal income tax than being considered by the country's legislators.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, reviewed a draft amendment to the Personal Income Tax Law during a three-day bimonthly session that ended Friday, in a move to narrow the income gap and offset the effect of rising living costs.

The draft increases the minimum threshold for personal income tax from 2,000 yuan (307 U.S. dollars) per month to 3,000 yuan, and cuts the number of income tax brackets from nine to seven.

The draft amendment, which was submitted to the session for the first time, did not receive approval after lawmakers put forward suggestions, and also many urban citizens called for larger cuts in their tax burden.

Wu Bangguo, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said the amendment would be made public to solicit feedback and be put to a vote at the top legislature as soon as possible after it undergoes further revisions based upon public opinion.

A survey of 282,000 Internet users conducted by ifeng.com showed 98.1 percent supported lifting the threshold, as they believe the tax burden for low- and middle-income earners are both heavy and unreasonable.