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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/23/AR2006032300604.html" BEIJING, March 23 -- Battling to control its energy bills, the Chinese government announced a sharp tax increase on big cars Thursday and a matching reduction for smaller models.
The tax measures, issued by the Finance Ministry and published in the official press, marked the latest step in a so-far fruitless government campaign to persuade increasingly flush Chinese motorists to stop buying gas-guzzling prestige sedans or heavy sport utility vehicles.
The adjustments were part of a fiscal package that also included new taxes on a number of luxury goods, including yachts, golf clubs and fancy watches. These levies, although they touch only a few of China's 1.3 billion people, reflected growing unease in the Communist Party over a rapidly widening gap between China's newly rich and the millions of poor who have not profited from the past 30 years of economic reform."
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