EXPATRIATES living in Shekou, Nanshan District, paid 63.37 million yuan (US$8.12 million) in personal income tax last year, statistics from the Shekou branch of Shenzhen Municipal Local Taxation Bureau show.

The amount of personal income tax paid by foreigners residing in Shekou accounted for 14.58 percent of the total personal income tax revenue collected from the area, where most of the city's expatriates reside, a bureau spokesman said yesterday.

A Japanese national was the first person to pay personal income tax to the bureau in the Year of the Pig. On Sunday, the first working day after the weeklong Spring Festival holiday, he paid 10,536 yuan on his January income, according to the bureau.

Incomes of foreigners living in Shenzhen are taxed at a progressive rate ranging between 5 percent to 45 percent, after a monthly deduction of 4,800 yuan. Locals are entitled to a deduction of only 1,600 yuan, according to the tax authority.

Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao permanent residents living in Shenzhen contributed about 7 percent of the total personal income tax revenue in Shekou last year, according to the bureau.

All employees earning more than 120,000 yuan annually need to report their income directly to the tax authorities starting this year, according to the State Administration of Taxation.

Experts believe the move signifies the government's resolve to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, and to increase national revenue.

Editor: Yan