China to tax foreign individuals' dividends from foreign-invested enterprises

China will impose a 20 percent individual income tax on dividends and bonuses that foreign individuals receive from foreign-invested enterprises starting September 1, Chinese authorities said on Tuesday.

Exemptions from such tax, implemented in 1994 to encourage foreign investment and support China's opening-up policy, have now been revoked as the country works to streamline preferential tax policies and build a unified national market, according to a joint announcement from the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration.

Analysts said the move is conducive to maintaining fairness and uniformity of the tax system, promoting the construction of a unified national market, plugging tax loopholes, and better leveraging the regulatory role of taxation. ■