Tough conditions in property, manufacturing affect tax take
Fiscal revenue increased 13.9 percent year-on-year to 1.53 trillion yuan ($251.39 billion) in June, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on Wednesday.
Combined fiscal revenue in the first half hit 7.96 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.6 percent. However, the increase was 4.1 percentage points lower than in the same period in 2014.
Several factors caused the slower growth, the ministry said, including lower global commodity prices that triggered a fall in import values, slowing industrial activity, a reduction in the amount of business tax collected from a sluggish property sector and government cuts in taxes and fees that were intended to reduce companies' costs.
The ministry said that property-related tax income climbed 3.7 percent in June from a year earlier, the first annual increase this year.
The ministry said it will strengthen budget management and keep cutting taxes and fees in the second half.
Fiscal spending in June hit 1.88 trillion yuan, up 13.9 percent year-on-year.
Total fiscal spending in the first half was 7.73 trillion yuan, up 11.8 percent year-on-year, with spending on social security and employment up 20.9 percent to 1.04 trillion yuan, according to the MOF.
Expenditures on environmental protection and energy conservation also grew quickly in June, with total spending of 148.7 billion yuan, up 19.9 percent year-on-year.
Premier Li Keqiang said at the opening of the annual parliamentary session in March that a proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy would continue in 2015.
China has set a target for the budget deficit of 2.3 percent of GDP in 2015, up from last year's target of 2.1 percent.
The country's economy grew 7 percent in the second quarter, unchanged from the first quarter and the lowest rate since 2009.
