Now damn it. China beats Belgium, again.
The mainland has been rated the world’s second-most heavily taxed country last year and No 1 in Asia in an annual Forbes magazine survey released on 2 April, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
Forbes said China’s tax “misery score” rose seven points from last year to 159, just behind France at 167.9, and one place higher than its 2007 spot.
The added burden was blamed on a rise in social security taxes following the new Labor Contract Law, the survey’s compilers said.
The annual misery index assesses whether a jurisdiction’s tax policy attracts or repels capital and talent. Scores are the sums of corporate, personal, social security and sales tax rates. The higher the score, the less tax-friendly the jurisdiction.
France and Belgium were the top taxers in 2007.
For once, it’s good to lose. Be it a warning for the many naïve who think in China all is cheap. Till you pay your taxes. No wonder companies keep several books for accounting. We call it flexibility or capitalism with Chinese characteristics.