Clear up surcharges in doubt

ARE THE MANY TYPES OF SURCHARGES CHINESE residents pay legitimate? Can the government departments that collect such fees give a clear account of how the money they have collected has been used? These are not just questions concerning governing transparency; the lack of a legal basis for many surcharges reflects how far China has to go in governing according to the law.

As an example, every individual has to pay 50 yuan ($8) as an extra fee for the national civil aviation industry development fund for a single domestic flight and 90 yuan for an international one, yet like all but three of the more than 20 surcharges, it is not charged in accordance with State laws.

The education surcharge and its local counterparts are collected according to the Education Law, and the fee for sewage treatment is collected according to the Regulations on Urban Drainage and Sewage Treatment. All the other surcharges, such as the fees for civil aviation development and film industry development are based on documents released by the central or local governments.