More than 4,000 foreigners working in the representative offices of foreign enterprises in Beijing have paid personal income tax worthy of 540 million yuan or 65.3 million US dollars with per capita tax exceeding 130,000 yuan in the first 11 months of this year, according to the latest statistics released by the local tax departments.

According to Beijing Evening News the figures also show that the total taxes paid by foreigners in Beijing in the first 11 months of this year reached 5.89 billion yuan, 1.35 billion yuan more than last year or 29.8 per cent higher than that of last year.

The main reasons attributed to the growth are as follows:

First, the individual income for foreigners becomes compatible with internationally accepted practices. The higher the income is, the higher the tax will be.

Second, under the influence of more economic and trade exchanges between China and foreign countries, salaries for those foreigners engaging in the professions such as the intellectual property right and legal advise have been increased dramatically.

Third, foreign companies have gradually had their business emphasis shifted to Beijing, which brings about a general rise in the status of foreigners working in Beijing.

Last but not the least, the foreigners' income has developed from the unitary wages or salaries to multiform of stock ownership, bonus, and patent service charges etc. It is estimated that the international capital will show more favour upon Chinese market as the date for Beijing Olympics is drawing near. Under the circumstance of stable increase of tax basis and tax source, the personal income tax of foreign nationals will enter a long-term and stable growth period.

By People's Daily Online