China Needs Local Tax Revenue Reform

China can improve local government tax revenue stability by reforming consumption tax sharing between central and local governments into a local tax, 21st Century Business Herald reported citing Ma Guangrong, deputy dean of the School of Finance, Renmin University. Authorities could move tax collection from production to wholesale and retail stages, and expand the taxable scope to include more items, said Ma. Ma also suggested giving municipal and county governments greater autonomy in debt raising, which requires improved information disclosure to allow investors to effectively price bonds and launching pilot schemes in developed regions first, Ma added.