Development background
In the past, it was generally believed that taxation was only a tool for the government to obtain fiscal revenue. However, with the development of economy and the deepening of theoretical research, people begin to manage and restrict tax incentives. They think that tax preference is the government's expenditure through the tax system, so it is called tax expenditure. They think that tax expenditure, like fiscal expenditure, is government expenditure, but in different forms. Fiscal expenditure is to allocate funds directly to expenditure units, while tax expenditure is to give taxpayers tax concessions in the form of tax concessions without collecting taxes receivable from the state, which is essentially the same, even more timely than fiscal expenditure. Incorporate into budget management. At present, China's tax theorists have begun to pay attention to tax expenditures, and have also formed a * * * understanding that tax incentives should be included in budget management as soon as possible, just like fiscal expenditures, and a catalogue of national tax expenditures should be compiled. In practice, although China strictly abides by the provisions of the tax law and cleans up the preferential tax clauses, it has not compiled a catalogue of tax expenditures in China.
Throughout China's tax law, preferential tax policies are mainly used to encourage the development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, water conservancy and other industries, encourage the development of basic industries such as energy, transportation, posts and telecommunications, promote the progress of science and technology, education, culture, publicity, health, sports and other undertakings, embody national policies and support social public welfare undertakings, encourage the development of the tertiary industry, encourage environmental protection and comprehensive utilization of natural resources, encourage commodity exports, and attract foreign investment.
As early as the 4th century BC in Qin State, China had taken measures to reduce or exempt taxes to encourage agricultural production. If you plow and weave hard and increase the output of millet and silk, you will be relieved of the burden of hard labor; In order to solve the contradiction that China's large population and small land are not conducive to agricultural development, farmers from neighboring countries who voluntarily entered Qin were provided with farmland houses and three generations of corvee-free care. The forms of tax preference adopted by modern countries mainly include tax reduction, tax exemption, tax refund, tax expenditure, investment credit, pre-tax repayment, accelerated depreciation, loss carry-over offset and deferred tax payment.
Policy Brief: Choice of Registration Place
China has formulated a series of preferential tax policies, with different tax burdens in different regions. Investors can make use of the state's preferential tax policies for high-tech industrial development zones, poverty-stricken areas, bonded areas and special economic zones to save a lot of tax expenditures when choosing the place where enterprises are registered. For example, China's foreign-related preferential tax policies have adopted a regional, focused and multi-level approach, including:
(1) Tax rate reduction 15%, including:
(1) Foreign-invested enterprises established in special economic zones, and foreign enterprises that set up institutions and places in special economic zones to engage in production and operation.
(2) Productive foreign-invested enterprises located in economic and technological development zones.
(3) Productive foreign-invested enterprises located in coastal economic open zones and old urban areas of cities where special economic zones and economic and technological development zones are located belong to technology-intensive and knowledge-intensive projects, or projects with foreign investment of more than 30 million US dollars and long payback period, or energy, transportation and port construction projects.
(4) Enterprises with foreign investment engaged in port and wharf construction.
⑤ Foreign-funded banks, Sino-foreign joint venture banks and other financial institutions established in special economic zones and other areas approved by the State Council, in which the capital invested by foreign investors or the working capital allocated by the head office exceeds 6,543,800,000 US dollars, and the operating period exceeds 654.38+00 years.
⑥ Productive foreign-invested enterprises established in Pudong New Area of Shanghai, foreign-invested enterprises engaged in energy and transportation construction projects such as airports, ports, railways, highways and power stations.
⑦ A foreign-invested enterprise established in the State Council Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone and a foreign-invested enterprise established in Beijing Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone.
(8) Foreign-invested enterprises engaged in projects encouraged by the state established in other areas specified by the State Council.
(2) the scope of taxation
The tax rate is reduced to 24%, and its scope includes: productive foreign-invested enterprises located in coastal economic open areas and old urban areas of cities where special economic zones and economic and technological development zones are located.
Organizational form of investment unit
Generally speaking, in the early days of an enterprise, it is more likely to lose money. By taking the form of branches, the losses of branches can be passed on to the head office, thus reducing the tax burden of the head office. After the invested enterprise enters the normal operation track, it can enjoy the preferential tax policies provided by the local government by setting up subsidiaries.
Of course, we should also be alert to those enterprises with abnormal traffic. There are four main types of abnormal flow of enterprises:
(1) hulling separation type
This kind of enterprise "based on the East, registered in the West; Listed in the south, produced and sold in the north. "Some enterprises just posted a note and a brand in a certain park or economic development zone, and the actual production and business premises have not changed. Some registered several or even a dozen companies in the same residence.
(2) The head office is inverted.
In order to enjoy preferential policies, some enterprises moved their original head office to an economic development zone and set up branches in the same place, which led to the transfer of main taxes or changes in tax levels.
(3) "complete release"
Due to the different preferential policies for enterprises in different regions, there has been a phenomenon that "where the policies are loose, enterprises will move there". Although the newly registered place and business place of such enterprises are the same, it is not the need of actual production and operation, but simply to enjoy preferential policies of tax reduction and exemption and various funds. Individual enterprises enjoy preferential policies here and then move to new locations to continue to enjoy preferential policies.
(4) "undocumented tourism"
In order to break away from the territorial management of the industrial and commercial and tax departments, a few enterprises engage in swimming without a license in the name of changing their business premises.
Choice of investment direction
As the society pays more and more attention to the development of environmental protection economy, environmental protection industries and products will also enjoy preferential tax policies. Enterprises can use this opportunity to realize the adjustment of investment direction and achieve the purpose of tax planning. For example, Shenzhen has stipulated the following preferential tax policies for high-tech industries:
(1) enterprise income tax concessions
① Newly recognized productive high-tech enterprises shall be exempted from enterprise income tax for two years and levied enterprise income tax by half for eight years. For existing high-tech enterprises, in addition to enjoying the original "two exemptions and six reductions", the enterprise income tax will be reduced by half for two years. After the expiration of the preferential policy of enterprise income tax reduction and exemption, the output value of export products in that year reached more than 70% of the output value of products in that year. Upon verification by the tax authorities, the enterprise income tax is levied at the rate of 10%.
(2) The recognized high-tech achievements transformation projects with independent intellectual property rights shall be exempted from enterprise income tax for five years; In the next three years, corporate income tax will be halved.
(3) After the new project introduced by high-tech enterprises through digestion and absorption is put into production, regardless of whether the enterprise has enjoyed preferential income tax reduction or exemption in previous years, the profits obtained from the project shall be exempted from enterprise income tax for three years after being identified by the relevant departments of the municipal government and approved by the tax authorities.
(4) The income from technical consultation, technical service and technical training obtained by enterprises engaged in the development of high-tech products in the process of technological achievements transfer, the annual net income of which is less than 500,000 yuan, shall be exempted from enterprise income tax, and the enterprise income tax shall be paid for the excess; For the income from technology transfer, technical consultation, technical training and technical services of scientific research units and institutions of higher learning, the annual net income is less than 6,543,800 yuan, which is exempted from enterprise income tax, and the enterprise income tax is levied by half for the excess.
(2) Preferential treatment for business tax reduction and exemption.
① The recognized high-tech achievements transformation projects with independent intellectual property rights shall be exempted from business tax for 5 years; The business tax will be halved in the next three years.
(2) Income from the transfer of technological achievements of enterprises, scientific research units and institutions of higher learning engaged in the development of high-tech products, as well as technical consultation, technical services and technical training in the process of transfer, shall be exempted from business tax.
(3) Property tax, stamp duty and personal income tax concessions.
New or newly purchased production and business premises of high-tech enterprises and high-tech projects shall be exempted from property tax within 5 years from the date of completion or purchase.
Technology contracts signed by high-tech enterprises and high-tech projects are exempt from stamp duty.
(3) If the shares awarded and distributed to employees by high-tech enterprises and high-tech projects are reinvested in the production and operation of enterprises, individual income tax shall be exempted.
In addition, according to the Notice of the Ministry of Finance of State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China on the Value-added Tax Policy for Comprehensive Utilization of Some Resources and Other Products (Caishuizi [2000] 198), the following goods will be subject to the value-added tax policy of immediate collection and immediate refund from 2001.
① Shale oil and other products produced and processed by using waste oil shale associated with coal mining;
(2) Recycled asphalt concrete produced by mixing not less than 30% of waste asphalt concrete into production raw materials; (3) Municipal solid waste power generation;
④ Cement produced by mixing not less than 30% of coal gangue, stone coal, fly ash, bottom slag of coal-fired boiler (excluding blast furnace slag) into production raw materials. At the same time, starting from 200 1, 1 and 1, the following goods will be subject to the policy of halving the taxable amount of value-added tax: ① electricity produced by coal gangue, coal slime, oil shale and wind power generation;
② Some new wall materials.
Applied skills
It is a common way for enterprises to implement tax planning by using preferential tax policies to obtain tax benefits and maximize after-tax profits. Due to the complexity of tax preferential policies and high application requirements, different preferential policies bring different expected tax revenue and planning costs, and have different effects on the total after-tax profits.
1. When applying multiple preferential tax policies, we must make a comparative analysis and make a choice after comprehensive weighing.
The focus of tax preferential policy planning is to achieve the purpose of tax saving or other tax planning through reasonable selection and application according to its own situation and the provisions of current tax preferential policies.
When an enterprise applies multiple preferential tax policies at the same time and wants to make corresponding choices among them, it must make choices based on the criteria of maximizing after-tax benefits or maximizing the efficiency of specific tax objects through comparative analysis and comprehensive balance. Because the preferential tax policy is designed for a specific tax, and enterprises generally need to pay multiple taxes at the same time, there is often a trade-off relationship between these taxes. Therefore, the evaluation of the tax benefits brought by a preferential tax policy is mainly reflected by the indicators such as the total after-tax income generated after the implementation of the policy or the present value of the total after-tax income generated during the preferential period.
2. Fully consider the planning cost of preferential tax policies.
The planning cost of preferential tax policies includes direct cost and indirect cost. Direct cost mainly refers to the economic resources consumed by enterprises due to changes in the current economic situation in order to meet the requirements of certain preferential tax policies. In addition, direct costs also include actual expenses incurred in tax planning. Direct costs can usually be expressed in money.
Indirect cost mainly refers to the risk cost caused by uncertain factors that may occur in the implementation of preferential tax policies. For example, due to the change of social and economic factors, the preferential policies being implemented are suddenly cancelled, which brings losses to enterprises, or during the implementation of preferential tax policies, enterprises are forced to cancel their qualifications to enjoy preferential tax policies due to changes in business strategies or other unexpected factors. The occurrence of indirect cost is generally uncertain, so it is difficult to measure it with money in the planning process, but it should be fully considered when choosing the scheme.
When the tax revenue is greater than the planning cost, the application of tax preferential policies is feasible. Tax incentives are generally determined according to the difference between the present value of net income brought by preferential policies and the present value of planned costs.
3. Multinational taxpayers must pay attention to whether the governments of the country of origin and the country of residence have signed preferential tax agreements.
Tax preference means that the tax preference obtained by the taxpayer in the source country is regarded as taxable income, and this part is regarded as taxable income, which is allowed to be deducted from the taxable income when reporting taxes to the government of the country of residence. Whether multinational taxpayers can enjoy preferential tax treatment in the source country depends on whether the source country and the government of the country of residence have signed preferential tax agreements. If this agreement is signed, the tax benefits enjoyed by multinational taxpayers in the source country will eventually be obtained. If this agreement is not signed, the tax reduction or exemption obtained in the country of origin must be paid in accordance with the law when reporting taxes to the government of the country of residence. Therefore, before planning preferential tax policies, multinational taxpayers must find out whether there is a preferential tax agreement between the country of residence and the country of source of income. If this agreement is not signed, the tax preferences of general income source countries will not bring actual tax benefits to transnational taxpayers; If this agreement has been signed, we should also carefully study the relevant provisions and find out the way to make concessions in order to better determine the expectation of tax incentives.
Tax preference in the reform of "camp reform"
Transitional arrangement of current preferential business tax policies during the pilot period: individual disabled persons transfer copyright, provide taxable services, etc. 13 preferential policies exempt from value-added tax; To provide domestic freight, warehousing and loading and unloading services for the pilot taxpayers registered in Yangshan Bonded Port Area, and to implement the preferential policy of value-added tax for the disabled; Eligible enterprises provide pipeline transportation services and tangible movable property financial leasing services. If the actual tax burden of value-added tax exceeds 3%, the preferential policy of immediate refund of value-added tax will be implemented.
If the current business tax is partially reduced or exempted, it will continue to be exempted or refunded after the value-added tax is changed. In order to maintain the continuity of the current preferential business tax policies, some current business tax exemption policies will continue to be exempted after the VAT is changed; In order to maintain the integrity of the VAT deduction chain, some of the current business tax reduction and exemption concessions are adjusted to the VAT first-collection and then-return policy; Give appropriate tax incentives to some industries with a large increase in tax burden.
The export of service trade is subject to zero tax rate or tax exemption system. The export of service trade is conducive to optimizing the investment, consumption and export structure and promoting the healthy and coordinated development of the national economy. The pilot scheme of changing business tax to value-added tax stipulates that the export of service trade shall be subject to zero tax rate or tax exemption system.
In addition to the above-mentioned preferential tax policies, in order to cooperate with this reform, the relevant departments have also issued some special regulations, which also need to be familiar with the relevant taxpayers.
Taxpayers providing taxable services at different tax rates or rates shall separately account for the sales at different tax rates or rates; If it is not accounted for separately, a higher tax rate shall apply.
Taxpayers engaged in business tax taxable items shall separately account for the sales of taxable services and the turnover of business tax taxable items; If it is not accounted for separately, the sales of taxable services shall be approved by the competent tax authorities.
Taxpayers engaged in tax exemption and reduction projects shall separately account for the sales of tax exemption and reduction projects; If it is not accounted for separately, it shall not be reduced or exempted.
Taxpayers who provide taxable services and issue special invoices for value-added tax shall issue special invoices for red value-added tax in accordance with the regulations of State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China City, People's Republic of China (PRC) if they suspend providing taxable services, discount or make mistakes in invoicing. If a special red-ink VAT invoice is not issued as required, the output tax or sales amount shall not be deducted as required.
In order to help small enterprises pay taxes, be more familiar with the accounting operation of special subsidies issued by the government, and whether direct tax reduction and exemption should be included in the tax payment of preferential tax policies such as non-operating income, debt interest income and transfer income, and avoid unnecessary tax-related risks, Changjietong Accounting House held a series of video lectures for experts on preferential tax policies. In the lecture column, finance and taxation experts interpret the current policies for taxpayers.