Fuel oil tax not to be introduced in 2005
The central government announced that it is unlikely that China will levy a fuel oil tax in 2005. Until now, China has levied a fixed road maintenance fee from all automobile users, without taking individual fuel consumption into account. Over 270,000 people are employed to collect this tax. Before any fuel tax can replace the current system, job arrangements for those 270,000 employees must be found. Chinese farmers, who have been exempted from the fee for using automotive vehicle, will have to pay more for gasoline and diesel oil.
The prices of China’s gasoline and other oil products are much lower than that of the world, and oil refineries reported growing losses and gasoline shortage has been reported in some coastal cities in China. Read more about it in Xinhuanet.
