Living on Earth, whether you work or not, have money or not, you can avoid the nights of singing with wine, but you can never escape one word in life: tax!

What taxes do we usually pay?

China's taxes are divided into four major categories, with many specific classifications, but we will only focus on the key points today:

1. Income Tax

Everyone is familiar with income tax. How much you pay depends on how much you earn. In simple terms, it is: pay more if you earn more, pay less if you earn less, and pay nothing if you don't earn at all.

Income from individual businesses, wages, manuscript fees, labor compensation, rental income, or winning a big prize, as long as it is above the exemption threshold, you have to pay tax.

2. Circulation Tax

The tax paid during the circulation of goods is called a circulation tax; the main types of circulation tax are value-added tax (VAT), consumption tax, and customs duties.

Value-added tax is a tax levied on the increase in the value of a product at every stage of its creation.All goods are subject to value-added tax (VAT), and some special goods also have to pay a consumption tax, such as luxury goods, automobiles, non-renewable goods, etc. Why is that? Because consuming these items might lead to wasteful spending and could be detrimental to the environment.

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Let's talk about tariffs next. Goods imported from abroad must pay tariffs. Tariffs not only generate revenue for the country but also protect domestic industries. For instance, by imposing tariffs on imported cars, the prices of these cars increase, leading more people to choose domestically produced cars with better value for money.

3. Property and Resource Taxes

Human wealth is roughly divided into natural resources (such as land) and man-made property (such as real estate). Regardless of which type of wealth one possesses, it is possible that property and resource taxes must be paid.

For example, when purchasing land to set up a factory, one must pay a land use tax; when buying a house, one might have to pay property tax.

4. Behavioral Taxes

Many things are related to specific behaviors, and taxes collected by bundling these behaviors are called behavioral taxes.

For instance, some behaviors are not environmentally friendly. To restrict such behaviors, behavioral taxes are imposed. For example, when purchasing a car, one must pay a vehicle purchase tax.

There are also public services, such as urban construction, compulsory education, and judicial services, that require funding to sustain. Ultimately, these costs are borne by everyone. For example, when shopping at a mall, one must pay urban construction tax and an education surcharge.

Furthermore, when signing contracts, trading stocks, or buying a house, one must pay stamp duty or deed tax.