China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Monday that fiscal revenue fell 0.3 percent from a year earlier to 440.22 billion yuan (64.43 billion U.S. dollars) in March.

First-quarter fiscal revenue fell 8.3 percent to 1.46 trillion yuan, the ministry said on its website, while tax revenue shrank 10.3 percent to 1.3 trillion yuan.

Fiscal revenue includes taxes as well as administrative fees and other government income, such as fines and income from government-owned assets.

Business profits shrank as economic growth slowed, the MOF said, and tax cuts intended to spur the economy and the financial markets reduced government revenues. First-quarter business income tax revenue fell 16.7 percent.

China halved the purchase tax on cars with engine displacements of less than 1.6 liters on Jan. 20, and revenue from that tax was down 7.6 percent in the first quarter.

To shore up the stock market, the government cut the share trading stamp tax from 0.3 percent to 0.1 percent last April and scrapped the stamp tax on stock purchases in September. And even though the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index is up more than 35 percent so far this year, the tax cuts on share transactions meant a decline of 86.2 percent in revenue from that category in the first quarter.

Actual revenue amounts in each category were not released.

Customs tariff revenue fell 23.9 percent during the first quarter, the MOF said, without giving further details.

Central government fiscal revenue fell 17.7 percent in the first quarter to 721.3 billion yuan, while local government fiscal revenue rose 3 percent to 742.9 billion yuan.

First-quarter fiscal expenditures surged 34.8 percent to 1.28 trillion yuan, as both the central and local governments adopted a proactive fiscal stance to boost the economy and domestic demand.

China unveiled a 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package in November to be spent over in next two years, with 1.18 trillion yuan from the central government.

Fiscal revenue exceeded 6.13 trillion yuan in 2008, up 19.5 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2009)