Foreigners working in Beijing have their personal income tax cutoff point raised to 4,800 yuan (US$590) from 4,000 (US$490) since this year, the Beijing Times reported Wednesday.

As China lifted the personal income tax cutoff point from 800 yuan to 1,600 yuan a month from January 1, 2006, the deduction for foreign workers' personal income tax also increased by 800 yuan to 4,800 yuan, the newspaper quoted a local taxation official as saying.

According to China's law on personal income tax, this new cutoff point is applicable to foreign staff in foreign-funded and foreign companies in China, foreign experts working in enterprises, social organizations and government departments, etc., the paper said.

By the end of 2005, the number of foreign staff residing in Beijing was approximately 65,000.

(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2006)