The recently proposed amendments to China’s personal income tax law have triggered heated public debate.

The draft amendments, which include raising the income tax threshold to 5,000 yuan ($768.60) per month from 3,500 yuan, were recently submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress for consideration.

Finance Minister Liu Kun, when introducing the amendments, explained that the aim was to fix the parts of the existing personal income tax system that do not meet “the needs of reform,” and to supplement and improve the necessary conditions for reform. “The needs of reform” can be considered the central idea of these amendments. 

READ MORE