BEIJING, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Tuesday it collected 1.23 trillion yuan (178 billion U.S. dollars) of personal income tax in the first ten months, up 20 percent year on year.

In October, the personal income tax increased 7 percent, 13.8 percentage points lower than the value recorded in September, the MOF said in a statement.

The slowdown came after the government unveiled a personal income tax reduction in October. Starting Oct. 1, the threshold for personal income tax exemption was raised from 3,500 yuan to 5,000 yuan per month or 60,000 yuan per year.

Also on Tuesday, the MOF said China's fiscal revenue growth entered negative territory for the first time this year with a 3.1-percent year-on-year decline in October and stood at 1.57 trillion yuan.

Fiscal spending in the Jan.-Oct. period rose 7.6 percent to 17.5 trillion yuan, accounting for 83.6 percent of the planned budget for the year.