High-income earners in Beijing who miss the deadline for filing their tax declarations next year will receive reminders from local tax officials, while evaders will face fines.

People who work in the education, finance and real estate sectors as well as employees of foreign-invested enterprises will come under closer scrutiny starting from next year, Wang Jiping, director of the Beijing Local Taxation Bureau, said on Friday.

People who fail to file declarations before the March 31 deadline next year will receive a text message from local tax authorities to remind them to do so. Tax officials will also arrange meetings with late filers and issue reminders to the accounting departments of the companies that employ them.

People who fail to file a declaration or who intentionally delay filing will have to pay a default fee.

Big earners will have to declare their income between January 1 and March 31.

The State Administration of Taxation (SAT) issued a notice last month requiring people earning more than 120,000 yuan (US$15,380) per year to file an annual tax declaration with their local tax bureaux, regardless of whether they have already paid their taxes.

People whose income comes from outside the Chinese mainland are also required to file annual tax declarations.

The new declaration regulations are part of an effort to better monitor big earners' finances.

However, loopholes exist in the system for collecting income taxes from high earners because their sources of income are diverse, Xinhua News Agency quoted an unnamed official from the SAT Information Office as saying.

SAT Deputy Director Wang Li said the SAT estimated that there are about 250,000 people in the capital who earn more than 120,000 yuan a year.

"People who are just past the income threshold of 120,000 yuan, something like 10,000 yuan (US$1,280) per month, can be called ordinary high-income earners," said Wang Li.

The average per capita annual income of China's urban residents last year was 10,493 yuan (US$1,345).

Entrepreneurs, academic staff, entertainers and employees of foreign companies are considered to be high-income earners.

Wang Li said the SAT will hold symposiums for high-income earners to help show them how to file tax returns.

Foreigners who have stayed in the country for a whole fiscal year and who meet the income requirements should also file tax returns.

Wang Li said people would be able to file their tax returns online at www.tax861.gov.cn, through the mail or in person at their local tax bureaus.

Wang Li said more than 5 million people in Beijing pay individual income tax.

Overall income tax revenue in Beijing is expected to exceed 22 billion yuan (US$2.82 billion) this year.

(China Daily December 9, 2006)