A new phase in the testing of the digital renminbi has commenced, with cities around China now trialling its usage for the payment of taxes.
Cities including Beijing, Shenzhen and Dalian have successfully launched trials for the use of the digital renminbi to pay taxes, marking an expansion from previous trials that focused upon use of the currency to make small-sum consumption payments.
At the start of November Beijing launched trials for using the digital renminbi to pay taxes on the leasing of properties in the city’s Dongcheng district, with Industrial Commercial Bank of China and Shenzhou TECHO Telcom Co., Ltd. (神州信息) providing technical support.
Around the same time Shenzhen as launched a scheme that permitted a Hong Kong resident to pay personal income taxes for the month of September in the digital renminbi, marking an expansion upon the cross-border payments trials that began in March.
In September residents of the northeastern city of Dalian also used the digital renminbi to pay for large-sum taxes as well as social welfare payments via online platforms.
Zhao Xi (肇熙), a blockchain expert from Shenzhen TECHO, said to state-owned media that schemes for using the digital renminbi to make tax payments are particularly challenging given the complexity of the Chinese tax system, which involves different types of levies and payments methods.
