Vehicle tax has been introduced for the first time in Tibet
Autonomous Region in response to a surge in the number of motor
vehicles in this southwest China region, according to local tax
authorities.
"The tax will contribute to energy-saving and pollution control
efforts, and improve the government's control over the motor
market," said a spokesman of the Tibet autonomous regional office
of the State Administration of Taxation.
The spokesman added the tax, which has been in place in other
parts of China since 1994, would also help narrow the wealth gap,
an optimistic claim given an annual charge of 120 yuan (16.4 U.S.
dollars) for a private car with a one-liter engine, and 360 yuan
for engines greater than one liter, is not a crippling fee for
someone who can afford to buy a car.
The central government decided not to impose vehicle tax in
Tibet more than a decade ago as the region was underdeveloped.
But more than ten years on, there were 143,900 civilian vehicles
by the end of 2006 in Tibet, meaning one in every 20 people owned
an automobile.
Lhasa, with a population of 400,000, had at least 70,000 motor
vehicles as of last September and the number is growing by 50 a
day.
The per capita car ownership is close to that of Beijing, which
has 17 million people and 3.08 million cars, despite the fact
Beijing's per capita GDP is six times that of Tibet.
The fast-growing fleet of automobiles has changed commuting life
for Lhasa residents. Some office workers complain they spend an
average of 20 minutes more on their way to and from work than they
did four years ago.
But there is still no immediate sign of a pollution problem in
Lhasa, as the local environment watchdog said its air quality was
good on 363 days last year.
(Xinhua News Agency January 8, 2008)
