This paper uses continuous micro-level data to investigate the income redistribution effect of the personal income tax (PIT) in China beginning in 1997. We find that the average tax rate plays a larger role in determining the income redistribution effect of PIT than tax progressivity does....

The market economy has brought tremendous wealth and equally significant income inequality to China. This article attempts to analyse the role that different types of income play in fostering inequality or the extent to which the tax system, with a notionally progressive personal income tax, may...