Recently, the topic of "returning the middle class to poverty" has aroused widespread public attention. One reason is that the tax revenue data released by the Ministry of Finance from January to February this year, because the national personal income tax fell by 15.9% year-on-year, some people began to make an article on "the middle class returning to poverty", and the decline in individual income tax and the "return to poverty of the middle class" are rigidly linked.
The reason for this, on the one hand, is that the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance once said that "individuals with an annual income of less than 100,000 yuan basically do not pay individual income tax". Since those with an income of less than 100,000 yuan do not pay individual income tax, it is natural that those with an income of more than 100,000 yuan pay individual income tax. The people with an income of more than 100,000 yuan are also called middle-income people, referred to as the "middle class". The decline in individual income tax is simply understood as a decline in the income of middle-income groups, and then there is a remark that "the middle class returns to poverty"; on the other hand, such remarks are often very eye-catching and can quickly absorb traffic. Only the entry "decline in personal income tax revenue" appeared on Weibo, and immediately appeared on the hot search, once ranking second on the hot search list, with 180 million views, more than 20,000 discussions, and more than 123,000 interactions. It can be seen how well the person who posts the topic will use the news element, how much will attract traffic and attract attention.
Not only that, but some people use the topic of falling personal income tax and the remarks of "the middle class returning to poverty" to be closely tied to the decline in stock prices, housing prices, and bank deposit interest reductions, etc., to conclude that the middle class has been hit in all directions, so as to further ferment the topic and further arouse attention. As everyone knows, this kind of behavior is too violent, too arbitrary, and even a bit deliberately provoking contradictions.
We do not deny that in the context that individual income tax is still dominated by wages and salaries, and the wage earners are the main body of tax payers, individual income tax does have a close relationship with the income of the middle class. The change in individual income tax also reflects the change in the income of the middle class to a certain extent. In particular, the decline in personal income tax is indeed easy to remind people whether the income of the middle class has also decreased or declined. However, we must not link the decline in individual income tax with the "return of the middle class to poverty" because of this.
You must know that judging the income level of a person and a family cannot be placed at the point of time, but on the time period. The decline in individual income tax from January to February this year reflects the changes in residents' income at this point in time to a certain extent, and it can also be considered that the income of residents at this point in time may have declined, but it cannot be considered that the middle class has returned to poverty. First, whether the income of the middle class rises or falls, we must look at the whole year, at least half a year, in order to have a basic judgment and observe the basic situation of changes in residents' income. Otherwise, it is easy to draw partial conclusions, which will mislead public opinion and lead to the weakening of the expectations of the majority of residents. Second, tax declaration also has a relatively large impact on the progress of individual income tax. During the Spring Festival, whether residents have made tax declarations in time, whether the relevant parties have liquidated in time, or whether some places have artificially adjusted the tax progress in order not to decline in tax revenue after the holiday, etc., will also have an impact on the individual income tax in January and February. It would be far-fetched to link the reduction of individual income tax at this point in time with the "return of the middle class to poverty".
Of course, as one of the important references for measuring the growth of residents' income, especially the income growth of the middle class, the individual income tax also needs to pay attention to the decline in individual income tax in January and February. The decline in individual income tax does not necessarily mean that the middle class has returned to poverty, but it also shows from one side that the income of the middle class may have declined, or even by a large margin. This requires the relevant parties to conduct an in-depth investigation and comprehensive analysis of the reasons for the decline in individual income tax in January and February, and if it is indeed caused by the decline in the income of the middle class, we must attach great importance to and be vigilant. You must know that the income level of the middle class directly determines the activity of the consumer market. If the income of the middle class declines, it will inevitably have an adverse impact on the consumer market and form a resistance to the role of consumption in driving economic growth. From another point of view, it is possible that there is a problem in the employment of residents, resulting in poor growth of residents' income and a decline in the income of the middle class. Under such circumstances, it is necessary to take strong measures to expand employment channels and increase residents' incomes.
This also means that in the next time, whether the individual income tax will continue to decline will become a focus issue, and it should also become a focus of attention of relevant parties. Under the circumstance that the economy urgently needs to be driven by consumption, whether residents' income grows or not needs to become the focus of the government's attention. If the growth of residents' income slows down or even declines, it is obviously not conducive to economic stability and social stability, and better measures and methods are needed to stabilize residents' employment and income. The decline of individual income tax is an economic phenomenon, and whether there are some key issues that need to be paid attention to behind the phenomenon is something that the management should pay attention to and think about. Therefore, do not exaggerate the issue of the reduction of individual income tax, and do not ignore the contradictions and risks that may be implied by the reduction of individual income tax.