Wu Jiayin/Shanghai Daily news

China plans to lower people's tax burden by reforming its current Individual Income Tax policy.
What people are most concerned about is of course the tax base, that is, how much individual income is deductible when the IIT is calculated.
On August 23, the government proposed to increase the base from 800 yuan (US$99) to 1,500 yuan for people all around the country.
This surely will make many people pay less in tax, as 65 percent of the country's individual income tax revenue comes from 300 million low-salary workers.
But it may again cause inequality in a country whose individual income varies so much from area to area as well as from person to person.
Generally speaking, most coastal cities in China develop more quickly than inland ones, and naturally, the average income in the developed cities is much higher than that in the lesser developed ones.
Accordingly, the tax base which is suitable in relatively developed cities would turn out to be unfair in relatively underdeveloped cities.
In such cases, allowing for proper adjustments on the tax base according to the actual situation of a city may seem to be more appropriate.
What's more, even in the same city, not everyone gets the same pay.
As the main purpose of the IIT is to help adjust income distribution in society, the same tax base for people with different incomes would be unjust.