Today, the budget structures of the two countries show many formal similarities, but the de facto operations of central and sub-national bureaucracies diverge. Most Western discussions of fiscal efficiency start from the assumption that there is a separate, tax-based fiscal system in place. However, neither Russia nor China has succeeded fully in establishing an effective, tax-based system for provision of local infrastructure, pensions, and a social safety net. The reform of the governmental fiscal system in each country is incomplete. Fiscal systems in Russia and China differ in characteristics that cut across the assignment of responsibilities between.
