According to the Taiyuan municipal office, state administration of taxation, taxes paid by Taiyuan real estate enterprises totaled 314 million yuan ($51 million) for 2012, a sharp year-on-year decrease of 189 million yuan, Shanxi Evening News reported on August 1.

The data of final settlement shows that the amount of enterprises in the city that paid income taxes in 2012 reached 33,413, up 5,040, or 17.76 percent year-on-year. Among the enterprises, large and medium-sized firms are still the dominant source of taxes, with the top 500 enterprises in operating income accounting for 86.84 percent of the total enterprise income tax in Taiyuan. The industries of retail, manufacturing, information transmission, software and information technology services, finance, and real estate account for 88 percent of total taxes. The income tax from the three main types of companies, State-owned enterprises, limited liability companies and incorporated companies, reached 2.4 billion yuan, accounting for 60 percent of total taxes.

As the capital of Shanxi province, Taiyuan's special market conditions make the wholesale and retail industry a leading industry in the city. The income tax from this industry increased 32.1 percent and exceeded 1.1 billion yuan in 2012, accounting for 27.58 percent of the total tax. Taxes from financial insurance enterprises were up 13.48 percent because of the related policy. Compared with these industries, taxes from the real estate business witnessed a sharp decrease in 2012 because of the macroeconomic regulation and scope adjustment of enterprise income taxes.

Edited by Zhou Yuanyuan and Michael Thai