Chinese Regime Pulls All Stops to Boost Tax Revenue as Debt Balloons

China has come up with different ways to rake in taxes from its citizens in the wake of growing debt problems.
Chinese Regime Pulls All Stops to Boost Tax Revenue as Debt Balloons
100 yuan notes at a bank in Shanghai on August 8, 2018. Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images
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Saddled with heavy debt, the Chinese regime has begun doubling down on enforcing the collection of taxes across all sectors of society.

Not only are most of China’s provincial and municipal governments in the red, but China’s debt-to-GDP ratio—which includes central and local government, corporate, and household debt—has grown to 2.55, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

It’s no wonder the Chinese regime is devising a number of methods—both fair and foul—to extract taxes from its citizens. The most recent notable example is the case of movie star Fan Bingbing—which implicated China’s entertainment industry at large.

Entertainment Industry

After allegations of tax evasion emerged earlier this year, Fan disappeared from public view for months. Media reports later revealed that she was under surveillance at a holiday resort in Jiangsu Province while being investigated by the Chinese regime.

On Oct. 3, state-run media Xinhua reported that Fan was ordered to pay about 884 million yuan ($129 million) in overdue taxes and fines, for evading taxes on payments for her acting roles, as well as on amounts owed by companies she represented.

Annie Wu
Annie Wu
Author
Annie Wu joined the full-time staff at the Epoch Times in July 2014. That year, she won a first-place award from the New York Press Association for best spot news coverage. She is a graduate of Barnard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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