China to fully implement law-based taxation by 2020

China aims at fully implementing law-based taxation by 2020, and the conditions for this effort is gradually becoming ripe, a spokesperson for China's top legislature said on Wednesday.[Special coverage]

Fu Ying, spokeswoman for the third session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), made the remarks at a press conference prior to the opening of the session slated for Thursday.

The majority of tax types in China are based on regulations and "provisional rules" formulated by the State Council, China's cabinet, Fu told reporters.

"After more than 30 years of reform and opening up, China has accumulated rich experience in enacting laws and managing the economy by law, and the time is gradually becoming ripe to implement the law-based taxation," said Fu, adding that the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has required that the principle of statutory taxation must be realized.

Of China's 18 existing items of taxation, only three -- individual income tax, corporate income tax, and vehicle and vessel tax -- are provided by legislation, while others are based on regulations or "provisional rules".

Law-based taxation means that the types of taxes collected by the governments, to whom the taxes are collected and the tax rates will all be decided by laws enacted by the top legislature, and explicit stipulations on the legislative power of taxes will be included in a draft amendment to China's Legislation Law, she said.

The third session of the 12th NPC is scheduled to consider the draft amendment to the Legislation Law, which regulates the process of creating national laws, government regulations and local laws and defines legislative powers in the country.

"If the amendment can be passed, the pace of implementing law-based taxation will be quickened," she added.