China sets target to meet tax legilsation principle

Fu Ying, spokeswoman of the NPC annual session, said at a press conference on Wednesday that by 2020 China will have fully adhered to the principle that taxes are stipulated by legislation.[Special coverage]

That means that the various categories of taxes that the government levies, who will be levied, how much and how to levy must all be stipulated by laws made by the NPC, she said.

A reporter from Guangming Daily questioned whether the NPC National Committee failed to fulfill its duty (to ensure the implementation of the principle that taxes are stipulated by laws), with the Ministry of Finance that "willfully" increased fuel oil tax recently amid falling global oil prices.

Currently items taxed are stipulated by interim regulations made by the State Council. The NPC National Committee gave the State Council the right in 1985 to guide reform, according to Fu.

"Now China has accumulated deep experience in managing the economy with laws, so the condition for stipulating taxes by law is a mature one," she said, in response to the Guangming Daily's question.

Fu revealed that the draft amendment of the legislation law that the NPC is going to discuss at this session has clearer interpretations concerning the NPC National Committee's law-making power regarding taxation.

"If the legislation law is approved at the session, it will speed up the implementation of the principle that taxes are stipulated by laws," Fu said.