Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting nowhere.
In order to keep that wealth gap from getting more out of control, China plans to reduce taxes for low-income groups and tighten control on tax evasion.
Last year the threshold for personal income tax was doubled from 800 yuan to 1,600 yuan per month.
Still, the government collected a record 245.23 billion yuan in taxes up 17.1% and a bigger increase than the 11.8% of the previous year.
Tax income from low and medium income earners grew by 8.4% whereas tax income from the high-income earners grew by 33.9%.
China also levied taxes on purchases of expensive homes that were resold within five years.
Luxury items – golf clubs, cosmetics, watches, yachts, wooden floors and other items brought from overseas saw taxes jump 20-50%
“That yacht in your oversized luggage…is gonna cost you.”
The State Administration of Taxation commissioner says China has five goals with the redistribution of taxes:
1. guide consumption
2. facilitate energy conservation
3. facilitate environmental protection
4. uphold fairness
5. ensure social justice
Yup! Those are worthy goals for all governments who take taxes and redistribute them. But, it doesn’t always happen that way, does it?
What do you think?