Shanghai Daily news

Since the tax bureau says it hasn't decided yet to follow other provinces' decision to abolish the bicycle tax, local owners are still required to pay the tax this year.

There are reasons to expect the local authorities to drop the tax in the near future.

The tax on each bike is 8 yuan (96 US cents) per year collected annually by the local tax bureau.

A small badge is attached to each bike after the tax is paid. Bike tax is due from January to April each year and the bureau has made efforts to collect it.

In addition to posting notices in the public, they also hire people from each residential area as tax coordinators to help collect the tax and inform bike owners of their responsibility.

They each are granted a commission on the tax they collect.

The tax bureau, however, collected taxes only on 1.68 million bikes, just 18.7 percent of the city's total 9 million, last year.

While some owners evade the tax to save money, many others say they have other reasons for not paying it.

"The collection office isn't open yet when I head for work in the morning and when I am back, it is closed," said a bicycle commuter.

It's too troublesome to submit tax payments every year,said another bicycle owner. "Such a small amount. Why don't they just collect it once for several years to save my time."

Frequent pilfering is another reason for unwillingness to pay the tax. "Bikes get pilfered so easily. I have lost several bikes so far. I don't pay the tax anymore. Why should I pay the bill for someone else who is going to own my bike?" said a local college student.

It's also difficult to get these scofflaws punished.

According to local patrol and traffic police, they have no authority to fine a bike owner for not paying the tax or detain the bike. Neither do the hired coordinators, who actually perform the major duties of collecting the tax in the city.

Though local authorities still plan to collect the money this year, some insiders said it's time for the tax to be lifted or replaced by some other practice.

Local authorities were given the right to decide whether they would collect the tax on bikes according to a tax law, enacted in 1986, said a local lawyer, surnamed Liu. Altogether 12 cities and provinces chose to do so.

"Bikes are no longer expensive possessions for locals as it once was more than a decade ago. Taxing something as cheap as a daily necessity doesn't seem so practical," said Liu. "Insisting on collecting the tax is also not cost-efficient for the bureau."