Tax Planning and Tax Policy in China: Case Study of the Tainted Milk Scandal

Abstract

No food safety crisis has ever stirred such a national sensation in China like the tainted milk powder scandal in 2008. A further exploration of the root cause of this crisis, however, reveals something more disturbing—it is the undeveloped tax system that causes the melamine milk crisis. Because of the tension between political logic and governance logic of tax reform in China, the vacuum of public good provision becomes a burning issue since the Agricultural Tax Regulation was abolished and farmers’ economic burden became heavier than before. Thus, in order to prevent any food safety incident in the future, a sound notion of tax and an integrated system of tax planning and expenditure should be established and reinforced in the Chinese tax law.

Key words： tax planning; political logic; milk scandal; tax policy