“In the past, applying for export tax rebate requires hundreds of hard copy materials. If the materials are insufficient, one has to go several times. Now, export tax rebate can be declared through the comprehensive service platform of export tax rebate, which freed us from a lot of troubles.” Recently, Yang Xuhong, financial administrator of Rigel Technology Ceramics (Sichuan) Corporation Limited which is the first enterprise in our province to enjoy the policy of tax rebate for the port of departure, told the reporter that after implementing the pilot reform of paperless declaration in the Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone, the company now only takes half of the previous time to declare export tax rebate, reducing the tax cost for taxpayers by at least 2/3.
The facilitation of tax rebate arrives from the continuous promotion of the reform of the collection and management system. The Sichuan Provincial Tax Service will decentralize the examination and approval authority of foreign trade enterprises to Chengdu and Luzhou in the Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone. Tax rebate (exemption) for foreign trade enterprises is subject to county-level review instead of city-level plus county-level review, with the management level reduced, and the efficiency of examination and approval improved, reducing the average time for applying tax rebate of enterprises by 12 working days. At the same time, the unified platform for online declaration of export tax rebate has been established in the province, providing export enterprises with services of “running no errands” and “7*24 hours processing”. Paperless declaration and review for export enterprises have been fully implemented within the Pilot Free Trade Zone, which has improved the work efficiency, and facilitated the process for export tax rebate.
Creating an “upgraded version” of tax rebate for the port of departure
Enjoying the dividend of tax rebate policy within 3 days
In January of this year, the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued the Notice on Improving the Tax Rebate Policy for the Port of Departure. Luzhou Port was listed as one of the 13 ports of departure in the country, and constitutes as the “two major ports of departure" in the west together with Chongqing Guoyuan Port. Traditional tax rebate for export can only be applied after declaration in and exit from Shanghai Port. Once Luzhou Port becomes the port of departure, the enterprises registered in the South Sichuan Port Area can apply for export tax rebate to the taxation department after loading shipment in Luzhou Port, reducing the time for tax rebate by at least 20 days.
To benefit more enterprises from this policy, the Sichuan Provincial Tax Service has introduced the “upgraded version” of the “port of departure + land port” in the South Sichuan Port Area, which provides coordinated tax rebate: land ports like Chengdu, Guiyang, Kunming, and Chongqing located near Luzhou can declare tax rebate once the goods are shipped from the local ports by means of “tax rebate for ports of departure”. If the goods arrived at Luzhou Port and enterprises finished exit customs declaration within 3 days, these enterprises can enjoy the dividend of the tax rebate policy of Luzhou Port.
“Luzhou is located in the favorable junction of Sichuan, Yunan, Guizhou and Chongqing, and the mode of departure port + dry port will extend the influence of tax rebate policy for ports of departure, thus highlighting the investment value and siphonic effect of the South Sichuan Port Area," said Ai Yingkui, chief economist at the State Taxation Bureau of Luzhou City.
In addition to the inclusion of Luzhou Port in the trial area for export tax rebate for ports of departure, the Chengdu High-tech Comprehensive Bonded Zone has also included its enterprises in the experimental unit of the general taxpayer qualification of value added tax under special national customs supervision, and also allowed enterprises of aircraft financing and leasing registered in the special customs supervision area to apply for generally taxpayers of value added taxes and special invoices for value added tax will be issued. The implementation of these policies in the Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone will further inject momentums of tax revenue into the enterprises of this region to help them expand their market and enhance development.
"Integrated efforts" are consolidated by institutions
Sichuan Provincial Tax Service has introduced many convenient measures
As a foreign taxpayer, Odore is the legal person of Tubo (Chengdu) International Trade Corporation Limited. A few days ago, he had just concluded the four tax-related registrations of “integration of multiple licenses” in the taxation window of the Tianfu New Area Government Affairs Center. “Very good”, Odore told the reporter in an interview in which he gave thumbs up for the “bilingual service of Chinese and English” provided by the “one window for all affairs”. He said to the reporter, "my Chinese is not very good. I used to worry that my poor Chinese would hinder the process. Now I don’t have to worry!" Odore has come to China for less than 3 years. He was attracted by the beautiful environment, nice supporting facilities and preferential policies of Tianfu New Area. He has been paying attention to the changes of Tianfu New Area. "This is the first time for me to handle business after the merger of tax authorities. I am very satisfied with the bilingual service provided by the taxation window of the new district." Odore, delighted by the service, also subscribed the WeChat official account of the Taxation Bureau of Tianfu New Area on the spot. He took away the taxation manuals printed in both Chinese and English on the bulletin shelf of the tax service hall, saying that he would like to share this practical brochure with his friends.
“As the number of foreign-funded companies investing in Chengdu increasing by the years, more and more “foreign” taxpayers like Odore are emerging.” The relevant person in charge of the Taxation Bureau of Tianfu New Area told the reporter that the reform of collection and management system provides further potentials for us to integrate the business process, enabling the Tianfu New Area to file materials in a timely and unified manner, and simplifying the taxation process to “applying once, submitting one set of materials, and handling with a single window”. At the same time, the Bureau also tapped this opportunity to launch the activity of “a day open to taxpayer”, realized the interactions of tax culture by combining “exhibitions plus experiences” with “exchanges on taxation” and by inviting foreign guests to discuss his/her personal taxation experience; it has targeted the hot concerns of foreign taxpayers, and offers special taxation guidance for enterprises along the "Belt and Road" from time to time, in order to help enterprises gain a broad picture of the tax differences at home and abroad, assist them in solving taxation problems, and prevent them from overseas tax risks effectively.
The Luzhou Municipal Tax Service has implemented the “Three Considerate” measures. First, it will check the filing documents in advance. According to the tax policy, the export enterprise shall prepare relevant documents for future reference within 15 days at the latest after declaring export tax rebate. The Luzhou Municipal Tax Service will verify these documents in advance. Second, it will conduct early field inspection. If an export enterprise declares export tax rebate for the first time, the tax authorities shall conduct field inspection after such declaration. The Luzhou Municipal Tax Service has transformed the traditional practice by conducting field verification of the business premises, equipment, personnel, production capacity and financial system of the enterprise declaring export tax rebate in its daily works. Third, it will make appointments to verify the supplier. According to traditional practices, to verify the upstream supplier in the process of export tax rebate, it shall send notice to the upstream tax authorities in charge of the taxation of the upstream suppliers. It takes an average of one month to get a reply, and more in the event of an extension. And the Luzhou Municipal Tax Service has taken the initiative to pre-check the authenticity of the supplier to eliminate tax-related risks.
“In the past, to get export tax rebates in Shenzhen, we had to wait for at least 2 months, mainly because of the time-consuming correspondences. The Luzhou Municipal Tax Service has provided us with service specialists. Many of the verification works were done ahead of schedule, basically enabling us to conclude the matter during the month of application. And they offer considerate services," said Li Feng, the legal person of Sichuan Grain-Mobile Technology Corporation Limited.
The relevant person in charge of the Sichuan Provincial Tax Service said that with the deepening of the reform for collection and management systems, the taxation departments will further improve services in the future and make concrete movements in this regard. Next, we will cover more areas with the standard version of “single window” for international trade, and open the service of export tax rebate when possible. We will strive for multi-sector information sharing, and make good use of relevant information to guard against risks and promote development for enterprises. At the same time, we will deliver practical results in standardizing management, improving the management methods for taxation, as well as in maintaining a good order and fostering a harmonious environment of taxation, so as to guarantee development for enterprises in the Pilot Free Trade Zone in all respects.
