China's official Xinhua News Agency has said that rumours of a threshold for higher tax rates in the future is not true.

In a post published via its Weibo account, it quoted sources at the country's financial and taxation departments as saying that an annual income of 120-thousand yuan is not an official threshold used to define a high-income group.

Chinese social media platforms were sent into a frenzy on Sunday after reports that high earners could face higher tax rates as a result of forthcoming reforms of the country's taxation system.

The reports suggested a higher rate would apply to those earning at least 120-thousand yuan, or about 18,000 US dollars, a year.

In its post, the Xinhua News Agency suggested the reports were perhaps getting confused with the country's income declaration policy.

Since 2006, Chinese citizens have been required to declare their incomes, if they earn at least 120-thousand yuan a year.