Chinese tax rates

[Tashtego]

Not much worse than here, if at all.

http://www.worldwide-tax.com/china/china_tax.asp

[YetAnotherOne]

Probably actually better. I doubt they have the maze of state and local taxes we have here. On the business front we have a regulatory state the cost of which actually exceeds taxes on business, Chinese businesses are likely not required to comply with nearly as many costly regulations so the real cost of goods and services will be significantly less for that reason as well as all of the more obvious ones.

[Tashtego]

I bet there is even more corruption and bribery required though. I've also read that only party members are really allowed to create and run businesses.

[sk8boardbob2]

Most shops don't charge tax. When a good 75% of shops are tiny, no computer, no real inventory, one man operations, I don't know how the government is going to regulate taxes on everything.

[SlasZ]

You can't get much worse than Belgium.... between 50 & 55% of our salaries goes to taxes

[YetAnotherOne]

Most shops don't charge tax. When a good 75% of shops are tiny, no computer, no real inventory, one man operations, I don't know how the government is going to regulate taxes on everything.

They can't. The more tightly governments regulate industry and the higher the taxes they impose, the more of the nation's economy goes underground. E.g., I've seen estimates from economists that the black market comprised 40-60% of the real economy in the former Soviet Union and several opinions that it was the real reason that nation was able to function at all.

We're pushing more and more of our economy into that area here in the US as well. Talk to many small shop and bar owners in the Bay Area and you'll find that lots of them do only cash business because they couldn't make a living if they had to report and pay taxes on all of their income. Lots of industries that hire illegal aliens do so because the cost of employing US citizens is much higher and might well force them out of business, faced with a bad choice they choose the lesser of the available evils. We're getting to a point where the cost of doing business is so high in some industries that they're either going to have to bend the rules, close up shop, or move overseas.

[Tashtego]

Most shops don't charge tax. When a good 75% of shops are tiny, no computer, no real inventory, one man operations, I don't know how the government is going to regulate taxes on everything.

Do they have to pay a 'local tax' as in some kind of protection racket?

[sk8boardbob2]

^ Not that I know of. China has changed alot in the past 10 years.