Debtor's prison

(Bloomberg) -- China sharpened its crackdown on tax evasion by lowering the threshold for blocking citizens with overdue taxes from leaving the country.

People who have more than 100,000 yuan ($14,600) in overdue taxes can be blocked from traveling outside the country, down from the previous threshold of 1 million yuan, the official Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday, citing a new regulation announced by State Administration of Taxation last month. The new rule takes effect Jan. 1.