The high rate of taxation has once again become a thorny issue for discussion after a new survey by Forbes magazine ranked China second in the world in terms of tax misery.

It is the second time that China has been placed second in the rankings after 2009 and comes at a time when there has already been much debate over the anticipated taxes on mooncakes, a traditional pastry for Mid-Autumn Festival.

"China's overall tax rate is high compared with other developed countries. Personal income is taxed at around 45 percent in China, while it is only 37 percent in Japan and 35 percent in the United States," the People's Daily Overseas Edition reported, quoting Sun Yudong, a professor at the Public Management School of the Renmin University of China.

Yang Tao, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Science, however, says that the ranking is far from objective and Forbes' method of summing up the tax rates of all types of taxes does not apply to the tax regime in China.

By Sun Yuanqing