China’s March fiscal revenue expansion slowed with sharp declines in individual tax collections and land sales, signaling pressure on government coffers amid massive tax cuts to shore up economic growth, said Caixin.
Central government fiscal revenue rose 4% year-on-year in March, 4.4% lower than in the same month last year, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance.
Government tax revenue rose 1.9% in March, down from growth of 14.3% a year ago, reflecting greater efforts to cut costs for businesses and individuals as the economy cools. Beijing promised to slash taxes and fees this year by nearly RMB 2 trillion ($297.64 billion), compared with cuts of RMB 1.3 trillion last year.
Individual tax collections recorded the biggest change after the government reformed the individual income tax regime earlier this year, dropping 48.4% from a year ago, according to finance ministry data.