College students are reminded to pay income taxes for part-time work they undertake during summer holidays, the Beijing Local Taxation Bureau recently announced in a press release.

"Students or the companies they work at should take the initiative to pay income taxes, even if the income is for a short term,'' said an official from the bureau who wished to remain anonymous.

He also suggested students should pay attention to whether their payments were calculated before or after taxes.

For students working at registered companies, the employers should deduct taxes on their behalf and submit fees for them, and students will receive a receipt from the company.

But for those who work for individuals, such as home tutors, students are asked to pay taxes on their own initiative.

The news immediately aroused heated public debate.

Some people approved of this reminder, saying that it is the duty of every citizen to pay taxes, while some others held that the government should exempt taxation on college students because, instead of getting regular income, they work during vacations to earn financial support for the whole year.

A survey conducted by sina.com revealed yesterday that almost 70 per cent of people said students should be freed from taxes, 26.7 per cent held the opposite opinion, while 3.3 per cent were undecided.

Despite these figures, many students showed considerable understanding concerning the policy.

"At first I was shocked, but soon I realized it was correct. Some Chinese lack a conscience when it comes to taxation. This reminder teaches an important lesson,'' said Wang Li, a computer major at the Beijing Institute of Technology. Wang worked at a software company in Beijing during his summer vacation.

"But I do hope the government will adjust the starting point of taxable income to cater to the specific situation of college students,'' Wang added.

Although no documents from the State Administration of Taxation give a specific explanation of how college students should pay taxes for part-time income, it is stated in related rules that the method of calculating income tax is very specific. For income of or below 1,000 yuan (US$122), three per cent is to be calculated as tax fees; for income between 1,000 and 4,000 yuan (US$ 486), 800 yuan (US$97) will be deducted for the first time, and 20 per cent of the remaining part is to be calculated as tax fees. The incomes of most college students fall into these two categories.

"I should say it's legally correct to levy taxes on college students, yet this is legal but not reasonable,'' said Liu Huan, vice-dean of the Taxation Department of the Central University of Finance and Economics based in Beijing.

"A major principle of taxation is to free the tax on incomes utilized as basic living expenses. For most students, part-time work provides them with a basic living allowances, so it's not reasonable to tax them.''

Liu suggested that the government should adjust the level of taxable income for students and give them some favorable policies.

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