China's tax authorities announced Tuesday it will publish names of institutions, firms or individuals which fail to pay their taxes beginning Jan. 1, 2005.

According to a news release issued by the State Administration of Taxation, tax departments will publish the names, tax file numbers, identification numbers, outstanding taxes, at tax collection venues and on newspapers or Internet.

But the information of individuals or self-employed businessmen who owe less than 100,000 yuan (12,195 US dollars) to tax departments will only be made public at tax collection venues by county-level tax administrations.

Xie Xuren, director of the State Administration of Taxation, has signed a decree to release a provision to make the information public.

Tax authorities will publish the information on firms and institutions with overdue on a quarterly basis. The information on individual tax payers and self-employed businessmen will be updated every six months, according to the provision.

The authorities will publish at any moment information on tax dodgers or other people with outstanding taxes who could not be located by tax departments.

The provision also stipulates tax authorities should protect the privacy of those people, institutions and firms according to law.

Under Chinese law, tax authorities may fine companies and individuals for their delayed payment on a daily basis. The departments may also take measures to ensure overdue taxes are collected.

China's tax revenue totaled 1.93 trillion yuan (232.57 billion US dollars) in the first three quarters, an year-on-year increase of 26.3 percent or 401.4 billion yuan.