Recently, the Ministry of Finance issued the "Notice on Issues Concerning the Transfer of State-owned Land Use Right Income, Mineral Resources Special Income, Sea Area Use Fee and Non-resident Island Use Fee to Tax Authorities for Collection". The term "income from the transfer of state-owned land use rights" made the notice a hot topic in the financial field for a time.
The notice pointed out that four government non-tax revenues, namely, 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 uniformly transferred to the tax authorities for collection, and the collection and management transfer will be fully implemented from 2022 1 month 1 day.
What changes will be brought about by the transfer of the income from the transfer of state-owned land use rights to the tax authorities? Will the ownership of land transfer income change? In this regard, "national business daily" reporter interviewed a number of experts for the first time to conduct in-depth analysis.
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Land transfer income still belongs to the local government.
The above policies were first piloted and then pushed away. From July, 2002 1 year/July, 2002, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Anhui, Qingdao and Yunnan provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and cities with separate plans) were selected as the units to carry out the pilot transfer of collection and management responsibilities, explore and improve the collection process and division of responsibilities, and accumulate experience for comprehensively pushing forward the transfer work. The pilot areas that have not yet carried out the collection and transfer should actively prepare for the collection and transfer of four government non-tax revenues, and fully implement the collection and transfer work from 2022 1 month 1 day.
After the Ministry of Finance issued a notice, some people think that the transfer of the income from the transfer of state-owned land use rights to the tax authorities may mean that the ownership of land transfer income will change in the future and the pattern of fund allocation will change.
In this regard, many experts in the field of finance and taxation interviewed by reporters unanimously said that this view is a misunderstanding.
Shi Zhengwen, director of the Finance and Tax Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, pointed out in an interview with national business daily that the ownership of land transfer income has not changed, but the collection department has changed. It used to be collected by the natural resources department, but now it is collected by the tax department, but this income still belongs to the local government.
Liu Jianwen, director of the Research Center for Finance and Economics of Peking University, analyzed in an interview with the national business daily that if the ownership of land transfer income and the allocation of funds are to change, a new system and mechanism for the division of income between the central and local governments must be introduced. In the absence of such system and mechanism changes, it cannot be said that the ownership of land transfer income will change with the transfer of state-owned land use rights to tax authorities.
Liu Jianwen also pointed out that after the implementation of relevant policies in the future, the land transfer income will still belong to the local government, but the subject of expropriation has changed.
The reporter of national business daily also noted that the notice made it clear that after the four government non-tax revenues were transferred to the tax authorities for collection, the tax authorities would be responsible for the collection and storage of the unpaid income in the previous year and in the future and the income paid in installments according to regulations, and the relevant departments should cooperate with the relevant information transmission and material handover.
Promote local governments to get rid of the dependence on "land finance"
Why should the non-tax revenue such as the income from the transfer of state-owned land use rights be transferred to the tax authorities for collection?
In this regard, Li Xuhong, director of the Institute of Finance and Taxation Policy and Application of Beijing National Accounting Institute, pointed out to the reporter of national business daily that the transfer of non-tax revenue to the tax authorities is a measure of modern tax and fee management. After the third tax collection and management reform, a unified tax service platform will be built, which will help improve the efficiency of tax collection and management and coordinate financial resources.
Liu Jianwen told reporters that at present, many non-tax revenues in China have been transferred to the tax authorities for collection. For example, all social insurance premiums are collected by the tax authorities. From the international experience, tax authorities in many countries are also responsible for collecting non-tax revenues.
The reporter also noticed that just a few months ago, in March of 2002 1 year, the Ministry of Finance issued a notice saying that since July of 20021year1day, the land idle fees collected by the natural resources departments and the urban garbage disposal fees collected by the urban and rural housing construction departments were transferred to the tax authorities for collection.
At the same time, some experts pointed out to reporters that although the current transfer of land transfer income to the tax authorities does not change its ownership, in the long run, this move still has a far-reaching impact.
Chang Yang, chief economist of the Institute of Public Policy and Governance of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, analyzed that in the future, the "vertical line" tax department will be responsible for collecting the revenue from the transfer of state-owned land use rights, so that the central government can fully grasp the specific situation of local land transfer revenue and expenditure. In the short term, due to this year's budget arrangement, local government behavior has a certain continuity. However, in the long run, it will guide the behavior of local governments, make them more cautious in land transfer, and push them to get rid of their dependence on "land finance".
The degree of collection norms will be significantly improved.
For the real estate industry, what impact will the transfer of the income from the transfer of state-owned land use rights to the tax authorities have?
In this regard, Chang Yang told the reporter of national business daily that there was room for flexibility in the collection of land transfer income in the past. For example, after the real estate developer obtains the land, it is required to transfer the land to the account according to the regulations; However, there is room for coordination when the account will be received, and whether it will be received at one time or in batches, which will often have a greater impact on the financial pressure and capital cost of real estate developers.
In the future, the land transfer income will be collected by the tax authorities, and the strictness and standardization of the collection will be significantly improved, and the coordination space for real estate developers to reduce financial pressure and financial costs may be compressed.
Yan Yuejin, research director of the think tank center of Yiju Research Institute, analyzed the reporter of national business daily. Due to the complexity of the land market and the opacity of the collection of land transfer fees in various places, there was a lot of "maneuverability" space in the past, and the process of land transfer fees entering the state treasury may be artificially interfered.
After the transfer, after the relevant land transaction, the natural resources department needs to submit the land transaction, and the tax department should also review the transaction and urge the housing enterprises to pay the land transfer fee. According to this conclusion, the change of the subject of land transfer fee collection has standardized the process of land transfer fee collection and aggravated the financial discipline and accounting discipline related to land transfer fee. At the same time, it also reduces all kinds of opaque and irregular situations in the past, thus reducing related financial risks. This has just promoted the healthy development of the "land finance" ecosystem.
Yan Yuejin also pointed out to reporters that according to the changes in the subject of this collection, subsequent real estate enterprises need to contact the tax authorities in the process of paying the land transfer fee. Specifically, it is necessary to understand the details of the General Declaration Form for Non-tax Income, the software and hardware environment of payment, and pay attention to the adjustment and merger of payment.