(Yicai) July 30 -- Individual taxpayers in China have seen their refunds more than double over the past five years thanks to special additional deductions such as for children’s education and elder care.

The average income tax refund was CNY1,300 (USD181) last year, Cai Zili, deputy commissioner of the State Taxation Administration, said at a press conference on July 28. That compares with an average of CNY582 (USD81) in 2019.

Even though the government has added and extended special income tax deductions such as for infant care, children’s education, elderly care, housing rent, and mortgage interest in recent years, there are still calls for the personal income tax threshold to be raised. It has not increased since October 2018, when it was set at CNY5,000 (USD697) per month.

More than 100 million taxpayers applied to receive more than CNY130 billion (USD18.1 billion) in refunds last year, while seven million others paid over CNY48 billion (USD6.7 billion) in additional taxes, according to Cai.

Between 2021 and 2024, the top 10 percent of earners contributed about 90 percent of the government’s income from individual taxes, Cai noted, adding that people with annual income below CNY120,000 (USD16,700) are generally not required to pay additional taxes.

The STA probed and penalized a number of high-income individuals for tax evasion last year, including livestreaming hosts and celebrities, Deputy Commissioner Wang Daoshu said. More than 360 cases involving livestreamers have been investigated since 2021, with over CNY3 billion (USD418 million) recovered, he added.

Editor: Futura Costaglione