The Chinese nation woke up on April 1 to a list of new items earmarked for consumption tax and another list increasing existing taxes on other items.
　　One of the more interesting items on this new tax list that caught my eye was disposable wooden chopsticks. I did a double take when I first heard this and decided it must have been an April Fool’s joke, right? Chopsticks, why on earth would anyone tax chopsticks, when they are as essential to Chinese life as rice, tea and firecrackers? But there it was in the news bulletins: China will collect a 5 percent consumption tax on disposable wooden chopsticks.
　　It was only when I started looking at the statistics that the penny dropped. According to the Ministry of Finance, China produces 15 billion pairs of these throwaways a year, with over a third of that amount exported. Are there really billions of chopsticks being used outside China?
　　The production of disposable chopsticks is chewing up China’s forests at the electrifying rate of 1.3 million cubic meters of timber each year. The ministry says the tax is a bid to discourage the use of these chopsticks, as they are a waste of timber resources. But that much forest disappearing annually is a wake up call that deserves more than just an added tax. Ban the disposables outright, I say! Never did I like them anyway, far too flimsy to control.省略, 73 percent of the 25,000 respondents reckoned their throwaway wooden chopsticks days were over after the tax came into force. That was it for them. No more. This led me to wondering what alternatives there were for anyone not wanting to rip open the plastic packet, scrape the splinters off the side, and tuck in with their disposable kuaizi?
　　Are Chinese restaurants now going to use cutlery in the form of knives and forks (I hear a loud chorus from the expat community) or is every diner going to bring their own chopsticks? When preparing to go out, the checklist will now include keys, cellphone, wallet and chopsticks.
　　Perhaps eating-houses will offer stainless steel chopsticks as they do in Korea or allow eating with hands as they do in India and parts of Africa. And then again, plastic is probably the way to go. Whatever happens, it’s going to lead to some creative ideas on how to get that piece of mutton bubbling away in the hotpot into your mouth.
　　On a different track, something bound to bring smiles to the faces of all those who like looking good, is the scrapping of the 8 percent consumption tax on skin and haircare products originally imposed in 1994. Twelve years ago, it seems, these now affordable necessities were still thought of as luxury products, something that has changed with the rising level of prosperity in the country.
　　Boys who hanker after their big toys are going to feel the pinch in a big way. The SUV lovers will be shelling out up to 20 percent additional tax on these big engine cars in a bid to reduce the number of gas-guzzlers and address energy needs, while levies on small engine cars will have a small reduction.
　　The new tax regulations also take a swipe at those with a love for yachting on the Yangtze River, squeezing out an extra 10 percent on yachts, and at golfing enthusiasts, who will be paying more for golf clubs and golf balls. Building upmarket golf courses has in the past come under fire in China for allegedly taking up rural arable land without adequate compensation. I suppose this makes it a good reason to tax anything golfable. And if you’re tired of being offered a Rolex for dirt-cheap prices outside a shopping market, the real thing along with other luxury watches now carries an additional 20 percent tax. It’s probably going to be cheaper to get these items overseas rather than in China.
　　The luxury goods tax is aimed broadside at China’s emerging affluent society, who when all is said and done are probably still in a position to overlook any attempts to “inconvenience” their shopping sprees. Let’s face it; there is nothing new in taxing the rich, whatever country you look at.
　　There’s no doubting the sincerity of the motive behind these tax increases. Protecting the environment from the senseless wave of forest depletion, trying to conserve energy and looking for ways to close the gap between rich and poor are all reasons that are good to go and I’m all for them. And as far as the chopsticks are concerned, I guess boycotting the disposables and bringing your own won’t be that much of a hassle. If you can’t plant a tree, you can at least save some of them.
　　
　　Foreigners living in China are welcome to share their experiences.省略 Submissions may be edited.

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