BEIJING, China
As red ideology fades in the hearts and minds of the Chinese people and social transition progresses, the phenomenon of the taxpayer has emerged once again in China. There has been little resistance to the reintroduction of taxes, except from some extreme leftists. People may have different views about their identity as taxpayers, but the undeniable fact is that all Chinese citizens are now paying taxes, directly or indirectly, to the ruling party or to the government.
However, although the people's legal status as taxpayers is recognized, the rights that should accompany this status do not apply. There is no system by which representatives of the taxpayers can oversee or monitor the tax-collection practices and procedures. There are no effective measures to prevent the various levels of government, the tax consumers, from extending their hands into the purses of the taxpayers. The taxpayers are not informed as to the amount of tax revenue collected or how it is spent; they have no say concerning the imposition of taxes or the expenditures of the state.
Unlike taxpayers in countries with a democratic constitution, those in China hold a dual position: they are owners of the state -- though without any seat in the government -- and at the same time they are a disadvantaged class. On one hand, the legal position of the taxpayer is supreme. Every citizen, not the ruling party, is supposed to be the owner of the state. A republic ruled by a constitutional system is owned not by any social class or political party, but by all the taxpayers.
On the other hand, however, in front of the ruling party's unrestricted political power, all the taxpayers in China are a disadvantaged class. Under the taxation system, everyone is a victim. What differs between them is merely that some taxpayers -- those who are not just citizens but also power holders -- can make up for the disadvantage of being a citizen by using their power.
But unfortunately, most taxpayers are powerless and truly disadvantaged. Whether they are rich or poor, they cannot argue with those in power. Moreover, if the rich do not conspire with the powerful, their losses could be greater. Those who impose taxes not only make various excuses to force the taxpayers to open their purses, they also censure some taxpayers for tax evasion in order to threaten and bully them. However, the powerful never make public the properties they own, or pay taxes on the illicit money they gain through corrupt deals.
Increasingly, economists, jurists, social leaders and media are addressing the topic of taxes, while the peoples' tax burden only grows heavier. China holds a high rank in the world for the number of people living in poverty, who therefore suffer under the taxation system; this has become a hot issue in society. Thus, a mechanism should be put in place to monitor the taxation system.
Monitoring the tax system would mean evaluating the services rendered by the government in exchange for the taxpayers' money, in order to ensure the fairness and justice of this exchange. This task should begin with the citizens, who must safeguard the taxpayers' purses. In brief, monitoring the system would mean organizing the taxpayers themselves to defend their rights as citizens, to advocate a proper, legitimate, transparent and reasonable system of taxation, to monitor the usage of tax revenue and offer suggestions for preventing abuse by both tax collectors and taxpayers. Taxpayers should be educated to know their rights and know what services they are paying for.
The tax monitoring system would be perverted if the government viewed it as a method of seeking new tax revenue. Its fundamental purpose would be to appeal to the authorities to impose taxes properly and righteously, at the lowest practical level, to allow citizens to hold onto their wealth. Eventually, the taxpayers should be able to assume their position as the true owners of the country.
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(Liu Junning is a researcher on social issues at the Institute of Chinese Culture under China's Ministry of Culture. He was formerly a political researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and a visiting scholar at the Fairbanks Center for East Asian Research at Harvard University. This article is edited and translated from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online. The original may be found at www.ncn.org and http://liujunning.vip.bokee.com/ . ©Copyright Liu Junning.)
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