Effects of tax cuts on govt income felt

The Chinese government had a total income of 7.27 trillion yuan ($1.07 trillion) in the first four months of 2019, with a growth rate of 5.3 percent — a sharp decline from the 12.86 percent of a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance announced on Wednesday.

This accumulated growth rate was the slowest since June 2015, mainly due to tax cuts. In the meantime, the tax income growth rate slowed to 4.6 percent by April from 5.4 percent in the first three months, the ministry said.

It also showed from January to April total tax income was 6.37 trillion yuan, including 2.64 trillion yuan from value-added tax. The increase rate of VAT payments was slowed to 12.4 percent, compared with 18.3 percent in the same period of 2018, as lower tax rates took effect on April 1.

Fiscal spending, has accelerated remarkably, however, with a rate of 15.2 percent by April compared with 10.3 percent a year earlier, per data published on the finance ministry's website.

More effects from tax cuts will be seen in May, and strengthened government spending will continually support key developing areas such as technology and innovation, according to a statement from the ministry.