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)