Rural Province Leads China in Tax-for-Fees ReformEast China's province of Anhui is expected to become once again the pacesetter in the country's rural reforms. This time, it will be the reform of tax-for-fees. The province has been selected by the central authorities this year for a tax-for-fees reform on a trial basis, according to the country's most authoritative news weekly "Outlook".The April 10 issue of the magazine said that the reform has already been kicked off in the province, where majority of its population live in rural areas. According to the timetable put forward by the provincial government, all the preparatory work will be finished by the end of May, and new taxes will be levied from June. "This will be another major reform step for rural China since the founding of New China, following the land reform and implementation of a family-based farming system," the magazine said. Two decades ago, it was also the province of Anhui that took the lead in establishing a family-based farming system against the backdrop of rigid ideology and the prevalence of the People's Communes. Under the preliminary measures of reform, fees and charges levied by township and village administrations, such as the fees for pig slaughtering and education, will all be abolished. And the agricultural tax will be readjusted according to new measurement of the present family-contracted farming land. Like the family-based farming system established 20 years ago, the tax-for-fees reform is expected to start a new round of changes in rural China, experts claimed. |
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