What is the intention of this collection and transfer? Xinhua Viewpoint reporter interviewed many experts and insiders.
Necessary measures to deepen the reform of non-tax revenue collection and management system
The notice jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the People's Bank of State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China and the People's Bank of China recently made it clear that all the four government non-tax revenues collected by the natural resources department, including the revenue from the transfer of state-owned land use rights, special revenue from mineral resources, sea area use fees and uninhabited island use fees, will be transferred to the tax authorities for collection.
"In fact, this move is mainly to implement the reform plan of the national tax and local tax collection and management system, and it is an initiative to deepen the reform of the party and state institutions." Hu Yan, Dean of the Institute of Public Policy and Governance, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
On 20 18, the central office and the state Council issued the "reform plan for the collection and management system of national tax and local tax". "Transfer of social insurance premiums and non-tax revenue collection and management responsibilities" is one of the main contents of the plan.
In recent years, the collection and management of social insurance premiums and non-tax revenues in China has also been continuously reformed according to this path. Since 20 19, a number of non-tax revenues, such as the national major water conservancy project construction fund and compensation fees for soil and water conservation, have been handed over to the tax authorities for collection; Various social insurance premiums for employees of enterprises in Beijing and Shanghai are also collected by tax authorities.
According to Luo Zhiheng, vice president and chief macro analyst of Guangdong Securities Research Institute, after the non-tax revenue is transferred to the tax department, the efficiency of collection and management is expected to be further improved, and the transparency and standardization of funds will be further improved, which is conducive to improving the overall planning ability of financial resources.
"In recent years, the tax collection and management system has been continuously optimized, and the means of tax collection and management informationization have become more and more advanced. It is the general trend for tax authorities to uniformly collect tax revenue and non-tax revenue, and this transfer conforms to this trend. " Yang Zhiyong, vice president of the Institute of Finance and Economics of China Academy of Social Sciences, said.
He said that tax authorities should collect government non-tax revenue at the same time, which is conducive to giving full play to the economies of scale of tax revenue, improving the efficiency of government non-tax revenue collection and management, building a service-oriented government, and promoting the modernization of national governance system and governance capacity.
According to the notice, from July 1 day, 2026, four pilot projects of government non-tax revenue transfer, including the income from the transfer of state-owned land use rights, will be carried out in seven places including Hebei and Inner Mongolia, and will be fully implemented from June 1 day, 2022. "Taking the practice of piloting first and then fully implementing it can better solve some problems that will be encountered during the handover process, so as to accumulate experience and advance smoothly." Yang Zhiyong said.
In Hu's view, the collection of these four government non-tax revenues is very professional. In the next practical operation, relevant departments should strengthen communication, strengthen the coordination and cooperation of professionals, and ensure the implementation of policies.
The scope of collection, use and management remains unchanged.
The income from the transfer of state-owned land use rights is an important part of the budget income of government funds and one of the "four accounts" of China's finance. All the income will be paid into the local treasury and included in the budget management of local government funds.
Statistics show that in 2020, the revenue from the transfer of state-owned land use rights was 8.41420 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.9%. In the first four months of this year, the revenue from the transfer of state-owned land use rights was 265.438+38.3 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35%.
"This adjustment is the collection agency, not the ownership of land transfer income, which is a logic with the transformation of social security from individual tax collection." Luo Zhiheng said that the income from the transfer of state-owned land use rights still belongs to local income and is fully included in the budget management of local government funds, and the expenditure is still arranged through the budget of local government funds.
In fact, Article 8 of this circular has made it clear: "Except for the provisions of this circular, the scope, targets, standards, reduction, sharing, use and management of the four government non-tax revenues will continue to be implemented in accordance with the existing provisions."
Yang Zhiyong said that this circular does not involve budget reform, nor does it involve the adjustment of the financial relationship between the central and local governments.
Luo Zhiheng said that although the collection and transfer will not have an impact on the land finance as a whole, because the tax department is more standardized, it can better avoid the irregular behavior of some local governments in collecting land transfer fees.
According to the regulations, China's land transfer revenue and expenditure are included in the budget management of government funds, accounted for separately from the public budget, managed separately, and earmarked for special purposes, mainly for compensation for land acquisition and demolition and supporting agriculture. Last year, the Central Office and the State Council issued the Opinions on Adjusting and Perfecting the Use Scope of Land Transfer Income to Give Priority to Supporting Rural Revitalization, clearly proposing to steadily increase the proportion of land transfer income used for agriculture and rural areas.
Some experts pointed out that the transfer of land transfer income to the tax authorities is also conducive to better implementing the key tasks of supporting rural revitalization, speeding up the short-term development of agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and providing strong support for the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy.
Will expropriation and transfer affect the real estate market?
Some people interpret it as the tax authorities' collection and management of land transfer fees will have an impact on the land market and housing prices. In this regard, industry insiders said that this analysis is not accurate.
"Some people link the transfer of four non-tax revenues, such as the income from the transfer of state-owned land use rights, with the tax authorities' collection and measures to strengthen the regulation of the real estate market. There must be prejudice. " Yang Zhiyong said.
"This land transfer fee is only a change in the collection and management department. Other policies remain unchanged, and there is basically no impact on the land market and housing prices in the short term. " Zhang Dawei, chief analyst of Zhongyuan Real Estate, said.
In Luo Zhiheng's view, the operation of the real estate market mainly depends on three elements: land supply, monetary and financial conditions and market demand. Changing land transfer income into tax collection will not fundamentally change the quantity of land supply.
"In the long run, building a new development pattern and promoting high-quality development requires local governments to get rid of their dependence on land finance." Luo Zhiheng said that it is impossible for land transfer fees to maintain rapid growth for a long time. Further accelerate the reform of the fiscal and taxation system and establish a stable local tax system.
Regarding land supply and housing, a topic of public concern, another reform and deployment was intensively promoted this year.
"Effectively increase the supply of affordable housing", "improve the income distribution mechanism of land transfer", "explore the use of collective construction land and idle land owned by enterprises and institutions to build rental housing" and "expand the supply of affordable rental housing" ... The "14 th Five-Year Plan" and the outline of long-term goals in 2035 have defined the "road map".
A few days ago, the the State Council executive meeting passed the revised draft of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Land Management Law, which further refined the procedures for land acquisition, established a pre-announcement system for land acquisition, standardized the compensation for land acquisition, and stipulated that if the relevant expenses were not paid in full, the land acquisition could not be approved. This year, all localities explored ways to stabilize land prices by controlling land prices, limiting housing prices, and striving for quality.
People in the industry generally believe that under the impetus of relevant reforms, the land supply is inclined to the construction of rental housing, and the land for rental housing is planned separately, exploring the use of collective construction land and idle land owned by enterprises and institutions to build rental housing. Both state-owned and private enterprises should play a functional role, which is worthy of attention and expectation.