A new personal income information system will soon be established to screen the actual status of high-income people, announced by the State Administration of Taxation of China on Thursday.
“There are some loopholes in collecting income taxes from this group of people as their sources of income are miscellaneous,” said a government official, according to Xinhua.
A research paper, provided by the National Development and Reform Commission, warned that the income gap between the rich and the poor in Chinese urban areas was considerably deterred in recent years. The poorest fifth of urban residents received only 2.75% of the total income, while the richest fifth counted up as much as 55%.
The research also revealed that the country’s overall Gini coefficient stood at around 0.4, the figure generally considered representing an alarming level of inequality. However, the real inequality levels could actually be higher, according to Xinhua.
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