Closer Look: NPC Meeting Makes Progress on Tax, Budget Fronts

(Beijing) – Two points from this year's meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC) meeting are worth noting, and both show that progress has been made on taxation and budgetary management.

The first is a central government plan to enact a law regarding property and environmental taxes. In delivering his first work report to the top legislature as premier, Li Keqiang said the government should "properly carry out the related work of legislation for property tax and environmental tax."
This follows the third full meeting of the Communist Party's 18th Central Committee saying in November that the government must levy taxes according to the law. Currently, only three of the country's 18 types of taxes are backed by laws. The rest are levied according to regulations issued by the State Council, China's cabinet.