Government income from sources other than taxation should be
better managed to be more effective, says a commentary in China
Business News. An excerpt follows:
Starting this year, the government will tighten its management
of revenue from sources other than taxes. It is high on the agenda
of the Ministry of Finance to set up special agencies as well as
the necessary regulations to put such management into practice.
Including fees collected from administrative services, revenue
from State-owned assets and State resources, income from lotteries,
fines, donations made to different government departments and many
other items, the non-tax revenue is currently managed in various
places.
The non-tax revenue of the central and local governments at all
levels has quickly risen in recent years. In some localities, the
non-tax revenue is greater than the tax income.
Some experts estimate the 2006 non-tax revenues for all
administrative levels were about 2 trillion yuan ($256.4 billion),
while the total tax collected by the Ministry of Finance was 3.76
trillion yuan ($482.1 billion).
Unlike taxes, the amount and use of non-tax revenue is not
closely supervised. Some non-tax revenues have been subject to the
management or supervision of multiple departments, with none of
them ultimately responsible.
As a result, this large source of funds is not used efficiently
or transparently, leaving room for corruption.
Part of the State resources, the government's non-tax income
should be under State management and supervision. It should be
allocated through administrative channels and become a strong tool
to promote the development of the economy and balance the
budget.
A mechanism should be designed to manage the non-tax income from
varied sources. The mechanism should be as detailed and scientific
as possible to fit the different situations in different
departments.
(China Daily February 14, 2007)