Enjoying the preferential tax reduction and exemption policies is the legitimate and legal right of taxpayers, which is beneficial to the sluggish real economy. With the promulgation of the "Tax Reduction and Reduction Management Measures" (State Administration of Taxation Announcement No. 43 of 2015), interim and ex post supervision on tax reduction and exemption has become the norm. On the one hand, it reduces the tax burden on taxpayers, and on the other hand, it places higher requirements on taxpayers' tax risk management capabilities. How to implement tax exemptions and reductions in compliance with regulations and correctly has become a challenge for taxpayers. What taxpayers cannot ignore is that while enterprises enjoy tax benefits, they also generally face tax risks. Improper handling of tax exemptions and exemptions can easily lead to tax risks. Not only will the opportunity for tax exemptions be lost, but economic losses will also result from backpayment of taxes, fines, and late payment fees. You may even lose trust with the tax authorities and turn a good thing into a bad thing. The bad things are really not worth the losses. The author reminds taxpayers that during the entire process of implementing preferential tax reduction and exemption policies, the tax risk coefficient is relatively high, and enterprises should pay attention and pay attention to it. At the same time, they must also meet and comply with the relevant restrictive conditions for tax reduction and exemption. While enjoying preferential tax policies, pay attention to preventing and controlling related tax risks.

_Tax Risk 1: Unfamiliar with tax reduction and exemption policies, missed opportunities to enjoy tax benefits

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Promotion Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the "National Enterprise Burden Survey and Evaluation Report" for the first time, and the data showed that 74 % of the surveyed enterprises reported that the tax burden was relatively heavy, and only 35.64% had fully implemented preferential tax policies. The number of enterprises that were unclear about relevant preferential policies was as high as about 50%. The survey data shows from one aspect that taxpayers currently generally do not understand tax policies and are not familiar with the specific regulations and requirements of preferential policies. For taxpayers, whether there are tax preferential policies is one thing, and whether they can enjoy relevant tax preferences is another. Therefore, it is urgent to learn and understand tax preferential policies. You can instantly query through the Internet, or consult with the competent tax authorities for communication and confirmation, or hire tax-related intermediaries for overall planning and special planning. We can continuously collect and regularly supplement, adjust and understand my country's current effective tax preferential policies, and keep abreast of the latest policies. changes and better implement and use preferential policies.

_Tax risk two: Improper implementation of actual operations and abuse of tax preferential policies

The first is misunderstanding and misinterpretation of preferential tax policies. It is necessary to strictly implement policies, use various methods to accurately grasp the basic situation of enterprises and tax exemption items, and verify whether they truly meet the conditions for enjoying preferential policies. For example, calculate the business turnover in detail and verify whether it has truly reached the threshold. Second, the implementation of preferential tax policies is biased, distorted, and discounted. Raise awareness of the importance of implementing preferential tax policies, enhance the consciousness and initiative of implementation, and ensure that various tax preferential policies do not deviate, distort, or discount during implementation. The third is the abuse of preferential tax policies. Taxpayers need to know the tax preferential policies applicable to them, effectively standardize and improve the degree of application of tax preferential policies and the level of tax reduction and exemption accounting, and prevent and reduce the occurrence of unfair competition behaviors such as the abuse of tax preferences. For taxpayers who enjoy tax preferences, we will continue to broaden our business ideas and promptly solve problems that arise during the implementation of preferential policies. Through the implementation of relevant tax preferential policies, various tax preferences that taxpayers should enjoy can be realized in concrete terms.

_Tax Risk 3: Approved Tax Reductions and Reductions without Approval and Confirmation

Approved tax reductions and exemptions refer to tax reduction and exemption projects that should be approved by the tax authorities according to laws and regulations; taxpayers To enjoy tax reductions and exemptions under the approved category, one must submit approval materials and submit an application, which will be implemented after being approved and confirmed by the tax authorities with approval authority in accordance with the law in accordance with the provisions of these Measures. Taxpayers applying for approved tax reductions and exemptions shall submit a written application to the tax authorities within the tax reduction and exemption period stipulated in the policy, and submit corresponding materials as required. Taxpayers who fail to apply in accordance with regulations or who apply but are not approved by the tax authority with approval authority shall not enjoy tax reductions or exemptions. Taxpayers applying for approved tax reductions and exemptions shall submit a written application to the tax authorities within the tax reduction and exemption period stipulated in the policy, and submit corresponding materials as required. The taxpayer shall bear responsibility for the authenticity and legality of the submitted materials. If the application for tax reduction or exemption meets the statutory conditions and standards, the tax authorities shall make a written decision on granting tax reduction or exemption within the prescribed time limit. If tax reduction or exemption is not granted in accordance with the law, the reasons shall be explained and taxpayers shall be informed of their right to apply for administrative reconsideration and initiate administrative litigation in accordance with the law.

_Tax Risk 4: Tax exemptions and exemptions under filing, but not filed in accordance with regulations

Tax exemptions and exemptions under filing refer to tax exemptions and exemptions that do not require approval by the tax authorities. To enjoy tax reductions and exemptions under the filing category, taxpayers must have corresponding tax reduction and exemption qualifications and perform the required filing procedures. The implementation of filing-type tax reductions and exemptions can be based on the principles of reducing the burden on taxpayers and facilitating tax collection and administration, requiring taxpayers to attach or attach materials to tax returns for filing during the declaration stage when they first enjoy tax reductions or exemptions. Taxpayers can also be required to file when filing tax exemptions. Submit the filing materials for filing within other specified periods after the levy period. Taxpayers who enjoy tax exemptions and exemptions under the filing category must file tax returns in accordance with regulations. Recently, a non-resident enterprise in Beijing was rejected by the competent tax authorities for enjoying special restructuring deferred tax benefits because it failed to perform tax filing procedures in accordance with the law. The enterprise paid back taxes and late fees on its equity transfer income** *Total 12 million yuan.

The company's business purpose was reasonable and it met the substantive conditions for special restructuring tax incentives, but it failed to perform written filing procedures in advance as required. If an enterprise fails to file in writing as required, it will not be subject to tax treatment as a special reorganization business, and it will not be able to enjoy the corresponding tax benefits. The Beijing Municipal State Taxation Bureau finally determined that the company did not meet the conditions for special tax treatment and required its tax authorities to do a good job in tax collection and management in accordance with the applicable policies and procedures for general tax treatment of equity transfers of non-resident enterprises. In the end, the company paid more than 12 million yuan in back taxes and late fees on its equity transfer income. All tax preferential policies formulated by the state that are not clearly approved matters are subject to record-keeping management. Before taxpayers can enjoy tax incentives, they must undergo qualification filing or approval in accordance with regulations. Except for those that do not require approval or filing, those that have not filed or approved in accordance with regulations shall not enjoy tax benefits.

_Tax risk five: Failure to meet the conditions for tax reduction or exemption shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Tax Collection and Administration Law

The taxpayer's actual business situation does not meet the conditions for tax reduction or exemption or uses deceptive means to obtain tax reduction or exemption If the conditions for enjoying tax reduction or exemption are changed, the tax authorities fail to report to the tax authorities in a timely manner, and the tax authorities fail to perform tax reduction or exemption on their own in accordance with the relevant procedures in accordance with these Measures, the tax authorities will handle it in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Tax Collection and Administration Law.

_Tax risk six: Tax exemption and reduction circumstances change, re-examine tax exemption qualifications

When taxpayers enjoy tax reduction or exemption circumstances change, they should report to the tax authorities in a timely manner. Re-examine taxpayers’ tax exemption qualifications. If the actual operating conditions change, the tax preferential qualifications should be given up or terminated. If the conditions for taxpayers to enjoy preferential treatment change and they no longer qualify for tax preferential treatment, the tax authorities shall conduct ex-post supervision and inspection of the actual operating conditions of the enterprise in accordance with the principle of substance over form.

For example: Jinfu New Materials Co., Ltd. will enjoy the preferential policy of "two exemptions and three halvings" of corporate income tax starting from the profit-making year, and the total income tax benefits enjoyed will reach 10.572 million yuan. Dibei Polymer, a foreign shareholder of Jinfu New Materials, currently only holds 18.7078% of the company's shares, which no longer meets the requirements for foreign-invested enterprises to enjoy tax reductions and exemptions, which requires foreign capital to hold more than 25% of the shares. At the same time, Jinfu New Materials became a foreign-invested enterprise and its operating period was less than 10 years. Therefore, the company faces the risk of backpayment of tax credits.

_Tax Risk 7: The performance of tax obligations should be included in tax risk management

Tax authorities should combine tax risk management and include the performance of tax obligations by taxpayers who enjoy tax exemptions into risk management , strengthen supervision and inspection, the main contents include:

(1) Whether the taxpayer meets the qualifications for tax reduction or exemption, and whether it defrauds tax reduction or exemption by concealing relevant information or providing false materials;

(2) When the conditions for taxpayers to enjoy approved tax exemptions and exemptions change, whether the tax authorities will re-examine the tax exemptions based on the changes;

(3) Whether the taxpayer has fabricated false tax calculation basis The act of defrauding tax exemptions and exemptions;

(4) If tax exemptions and exemptions have prescribed purposes, whether taxpayers use tax exemptions and exemptions in accordance with the prescribed purposes;

(5) Tax exemptions and exemptions have regulations If the tax reduction or exemption period expires, whether the tax reduction or exemption will be stopped upon expiration;

(6) Whether there is a situation where taxpayers should enjoy tax reduction or exemption on their own without the approval of the tax authorities;

(7) ) have enjoyed tax reductions and exemptions and whether they have been declared on time.

_Tax Risk 8: Unable to provide verification materials and recover preferential tax exemptions

Taxpayers who enjoy approval or filing tax exemptions will retain materials that meet the conditions stipulated in the policy. Obligation to keep records. If taxpayers are unable to provide relevant supporting materials in the subsequent management of the tax authorities, they shall not continue to enjoy tax reductions and exemptions, and the tax reductions and exemptions already enjoyed will be recovered and handled in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Tax Collection and Administration Law. After a taxpayer files for tax reduction or exemption for the first time or changes the tax reduction or exemption registration, the tax authorities should carry out follow-up management work in a timely manner and review the accuracy of the taxpayer's application of tax reduction and exemption policies. If a taxpayer is notified of changes in the application of policies, and those who should not be entitled to tax reductions or exemptions, the tax reductions and exemptions that have been enjoyed will be recovered and handled in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Tax Collection and Administration Law. That is, if the taxpayer or withholding agent fails to pay or underpays taxes due to the fault of the taxpayer or withholding agent, the tax authorities can recover the tax and late payment fees within three years; under special circumstances, the recovery period can be extended to five years.

_Tax risk nine: Approval and verification errors to recover taxes, ultra vires, exemptions, exemptions, and supplementary collection of untaxed taxes

Due to approval or verification errors that are the responsibility of the tax authorities, the enterprise fails to pay or Underpayment of taxes shall be dealt with in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Tax Collection and Administration Law. That is, if a taxpayer or withholding agent fails to pay or underpays taxes due to the responsibility of the tax authority, resulting in tax evasion, the tax authority may require the taxpayer or withholding agent to pay back the tax within three years, but no late payment fees may be imposed. . If a tax authority exceeds its authority to reduce or reduce taxes, in addition to revoking its decision made without authorization in accordance with the provisions of the Tax Collection and Administration Law, it shall make up for the uncollected tax, and the superior authority shall hold the directly responsible person in charge and other directly responsible persons administratively responsible; this constitutes a crime. , be held criminally responsible in accordance with the law.

_Tax Risk 10: Errors in professional and technical identification, disqualification of taxpayers for preferential treatment

Tax authorities should conduct ex-post supervision and inspection of the actual operating conditions of enterprises enjoying tax reductions and exemptions.

During the inspection, if it is discovered that the relevant professional technical or economic authentication department has made a mistake in the identification, it should be coordinated and communicated with the relevant identification department in a timely manner, and after making corrections, the preferential qualifications of the relevant taxpayers will be canceled in a timely manner, and the legal responsibility of the relevant responsible persons will be investigated. If the relevant departments illegally provide certificates, resulting in unpaid or underpaid taxes, they will be dealt with in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Tax Collection and Administration Law. Article 93 of State Council Order No. 362 of the "Implementing Rules of the Tax Collection and Administration Law" stipulates that illegally providing bank accounts, invoices, certificates or other conveniences to taxpayers and withholding agents, resulting in unpaid, underpaid taxes or fraudulent If the state exports tax refunds, the tax authorities, in addition to confiscating the illegal income, may impose a fine of not more than one time of the unpaid, underpaid or fraudulently obtained taxes.

_Tax Risk 11: Preferential projects are not separately accounted for, and tax preferential treatment is cancelled

Income from tax exemptions and exemptions refers to the net income from eligible projects operated by enterprises that reduce or reduce taxes on a project-by-project basis. Exemption or reduction of income tax is not an overall tax reduction for enterprises. If a taxpayer is engaged in projects that are subject to different corporate income tax treatments at the same time, the preferential projects should be calculated separately and the company's period expenses should be reasonably allocated; if they are not calculated separately, they shall not enjoy corporate income tax preferences. For tax exemption and reduction preferential projects, tax laws require that they must be accounted for separately and the period expenses reasonably allocated.

Taxpayers engaged in both tax exemption and non-exemption projects should conduct separate accounting and independently calculate the tax calculation basis and tax exemption amount for the tax exemption and reduction projects. Those that cannot be accounted for separately cannot enjoy tax reduction or exemption. If the calculation is unclear, the tax authorities shall verify it according to reasonable methods.

Preferential items are not accounted for separately and the preferential tax treatment is cancelled. Some enterprises have a wide range of business operations, and commonly run concurrent businesses and mixed operations, and have both tax preferential projects and non-preferential projects. According to regulations, preferential projects need to calculate sales or income separately, and calculate the reduced value-added tax or income tax based on this sales or income. Preferential projects and non-preferential projects cannot be calculated together. Otherwise, the company will have greater tax risks. A software technology company sells hardware equipment that contains embedded software. The company has been deducting and reducing VAT in accordance with the embedded software VAT policy when declaring taxes. However, according to regulations, general VAT taxpayers sell self-developed and produced embedded software along with computer networks, computer hardware, and machine equipment. If the sales of embedded software and computer hardware, machine equipment, etc. can be calculated separately, they can Enjoy preferential VAT policies for software products. If sales cannot be calculated separately, no tax refund will be given. The tax authorities believed that the company did not separately account for tax-free sales and was not in compliance with the preferential policy of instant refund for software companies. It decided to recover the tax refund of 376,239.56 yuan it had enjoyed and levy relevant late payment fees in accordance with regulations.

_Tax Risk 12: If you do not have the qualifications for tax reduction or exemption, you are not allowed to enjoy tax reduction and exemption benefits

If there are qualification certification requirements for tax reduction or exemption, taxpayers must first obtain the relevant qualification certification. To enjoy tax reductions and exemptions under the filing category, taxpayers must have corresponding tax reduction and exemption qualifications and perform the required filing procedures. Currently, many taxpayers who apply to enjoy preferential tax policies need to obtain relevant qualifications. For example, to enjoy the preferential policies for high-tech enterprises, you need to obtain the "High-tech Enterprise Certificate" issued by the science and technology department; to enjoy the preferential policies for software products with immediate refund, you need to obtain the "Software Product Registration Certificate" or copyright administrative management issued by the Economic and Information Commission. "Computer Software Copyright Registration Certificate" issued by the department; to enjoy the tax-and-refund preferential policy of welfare enterprises, you need to obtain qualifications recognized by the civil affairs department; non-profit organizations must be established or registered in accordance with relevant national laws and regulations, etc. Relevant qualification certification is one of the necessary conditions for enjoying this policy. If the preferential project conditions are not met, the tax preferential qualification will be terminated. In 2012, the Qingdao Municipal State Taxation Bureau conducted an on-site inspection of an environmental protection technology company and found that the company had registered in accordance with relevant regulations to enjoy value-added tax preferential treatment for electricity and heat produced using garbage as fuel, but the registration materials did not include the required comprehensive utilization certificate of resources. In addition, the company has registered to enjoy the pre-collection value-added tax exemption policy for garbage disposal services, but has not obtained relevant certification materials issued by the environmental protection agency. Based on the verification, the Qingdao State Taxation Bureau canceled the company’s qualification for value-added tax exemption and required it to pay back taxes in accordance with the law.

_Tax Risk 13: Failure to meet the restrictive conditions and cannot enjoy tax benefits

What cannot be ignored is that in the process of enterprises enjoying tax benefits, due to the prerequisites for tax reduction and exemption Restrictions may lead to various forms of irregular behavior, leading to certain hidden tax risks for enterprises, directly affecting the implementation of their own tax rights and interests, and even triggering actual tax risks. To enjoy tax reductions and exemptions, you must meet restrictive conditions, such as tax incentives and restrictions on environmental violations. Enterprises engaged in energy conservation and environmental protection can enjoy certain tax incentives. But environmental factors need to be considered.

High-tech enterprises that commit environmental and other violations of laws and regulations should be disqualified and cannot enjoy tax benefits; software and integrated circuit companies that commit environmental and other violations of laws and regulations and are punished by relevant departments should have their qualifications cancelled. Qualifications for tax preferential treatment and the repayment of the reduced or reduced corporate income tax; for comprehensive resource utilization enterprises, taxpayers who do not meet the corresponding pollutant emission standards will have their comprehensive resource utilization benefits revoked from the date of illegal emission behavior. Products and services are eligible for VAT refunds and tax exemption policies, and are not allowed to apply again within three years.

Taxpayers who have applied for and handled tax refunds and tax exemptions from the date of illegal emission behavior shall be required to recover the tax.

_Tax Risk 14: Multiple tax preferential policies are applicable, and the same taxable item cannot be enjoyed in a stack.

The type of preferential policies determines whether an enterprise can enjoy them in a stack. When applying multiple tax preferential policies, it is necessary to conduct a comparative analysis and make a choice after a comprehensive balance to fully enjoy the preferential tax policies. When choosing the most favorable tax policy that applies to you, you need to pay attention to the fact that some tax preferential policies cannot be enjoyed repeatedly to prevent the risk of misuse of tax policies to enjoy repeated tax preferences.

If two or more preferential tax policies for the same tax category apply to the same taxable item of a taxpayer at the same time, the taxpayer can only choose to apply one of them unless otherwise provided by laws and regulations. One tax benefit cannot be applied cumulatively to two or more tax benefits. When preferential policies overlap, the following thirteen situations cannot be combined to enjoy tax preferential treatment: corporate income tax transitional preferential treatment and the preferential treatment provided by the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation regulations, low tax rate for high-tech enterprises and the "two exemptions and three half reduction" preferential treatment, The post-disaster recovery and reconstruction tax exemptions and Wenchuan post-disaster reconstruction tax incentives, laid-off and re-employment tax incentives, tax incentives and turnover tax incentives for promoting the employment of the disabled, software company and integrated circuit enterprise income tax incentives and other corporate income tax incentives, and halved collection incentives cannot be superimposed. To enjoy the preferential tax rate, small and micro enterprises are subject to a reduced tax rate of 20%, and high-tech enterprises are subject to a reduced tax rate of 15% and cannot be enjoyed in a superimposed manner. Fixed assets that also meet the conditions of accelerated depreciation policies cannot be enjoyed in a superimposed manner. Preferential policies for software companies overlap with other preferential policies in the same manner. The Qianhai corporate income tax rate of 15% cannot be enjoyed in conjunction with other low-tax preferential policies. The deduction of loan loss reserves for agriculture-related and small and medium-sized enterprises cannot be enjoyed in conjunction with the general loan loss reserve policy. The employment tax benefits cannot be enjoyed in conjunction with each other.

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