People’s governments in cities above the prefecture level, respective provincial government instrumentalities,

To put in place the requirements of the Notice of the State Taxation Administration and Twelve Other Ministries and Commissions of the State Council on Implementing the Measures for the Facilitation of the Reform of Tax and Fee Payment and the Optimization of the Business Environment in Taxation (No.48 [2020] of STA), the following matters are hereby announced upon the approval of the Provincial People’s Government:

I. Consistent delivery of direct and expedited access to tax cuts and fee reductions policies

1. Effective and meticulous implementation of tax and fee incentives. Altogether 28 policies of tax cuts and fee reductions in 7 batches published by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council are thoroughly implemented to ensure the policies directly engage market entities with forthright benefits for enterprises and individuals. Preferential tax and fee policies, such as VAT reduction for small-scale taxpayers, interim reduction and exemption of corporate social security contributions, entrepreneurship and employment support to key demographic segments like university graduates and demobilized soldiers, as well as backing to distressed enterprises in pandemic-challenged industries, are continued unsparingly to give priority to stabilizing business operation, creating jobs and securing employment. Tax relief policies for poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, including tax reduction and exemption for agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, and donation for poverty alleviation, are practiced to better safeguard people’s wellbeing. Emphasis is also put on stimulating the vitality and stability of foreign trade with the measures for increasing export refund rates and other related policies to ease enterprises of their financial pressure, and for supporting the retail export business in the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone and for expanding the scope of paperless export refund processing to rev up export enterprises. (Responsibilities divided among Provincial Department of Finance, Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Provincial Department of Commerce, Provincial Healthcare Security Administration, Guangdong Sub-Administration of the General Administration of Customs, Provincial Tax Service and Guangzhou Branch of the People’s Bank of China)

2. Tax authority exercised with full accountability. On top of the thorough implementation of a series of burden relief measures, namely “ten measures of Guangdong Tax Service”, “nine measures to stabilize and safeguard employment” and “eight measures to stabilize foreign trade”, more targeted measures for tax and fee relief are constantly introduced to give enterprises maximum tax support within the legal remit, giving these market entities a greater sense of gain. (Responsibilities divided among Provincial Department of Finance, Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Provincial Department of Commerce, Provincial Healthcare Security Administration and Provincial Tax Service)

3. Mechanism of policy execution optimized. Online and offline channels of the Internet, hotline and government service outfits are used on an integrated basis, providing “cloud lecture”, online counselling, on-site training, guidelines and targeted feeds and upholding both “targeted, point-to-point information delivery” and “full coverage”, to timely release guidelines and interpretations of tax and fee relief policies and redouble efforts on assisted policy interpretation to ensure broad acceptance and easy understanding. The system to guarantee policy implementation is created, featuring “dedicated online section and service agent, committed offline counter and officer, and full-process oversight”, and the practice of inquiring about the needs of enterprises and soliciting their advice is normalized, so that tax and fee payers have full knowledge of policies and complete access to their benefits. (Responsibilities divided among Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Provincial Healthcare Security Administration and Provincial Tax Service)

4. Big data leveraged for legitimate and full policy benefits. Greater play is given to big data analysis and application to proactively identify tax and fee payers eligible for preferential policies, accurately forward relevant policy information, and give them full exposure to these policies. The IT system of tax cuts and fee reductions management service is better developed to monitor the implementation of tax and fee relief policies with big data, so that eligible applicants are “labeled”, implementation “visualized” and tax and fee refund “processed at the fingertip”. It also promptly detects and analyzes doubtful information concerning unused legitimate benefits and unlicensed access, so that eligible tax and fee payers can enjoy full policy benefits while unlicensed access is corrected and addressed. (Responsibilities divided among Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Provincial Healthcare Security Administration and Provincial Tax Service)

5. Reinforced analysis of policy effects. Targeted economic analysis of taxation is done on a sustained basis to reinforce policy effects analysis and track and evaluate the implementation results of tax and fee relief policies. Self-examination and rectification and “retrospective review” of policy implementation are regularly performed, and the end-to-end, closed-loop management system with “ex ante publicity and counseling – close interim tracking – ex post effect analysis” is improved, to ensure the quantity, timeliness, effect, coverage and other elements of tax incentives implemented are up to the requirements. (Responsibility of Provincial Tax Service)

6. Streamlined procedure for simple and taxpayer-friendly incentives processing. The means of tax and fee payers to access preferential arrangement are optimized and inter-departmental coordination and information sharing is stepped up. Except for matters legally mandated to receive approval or be put on record, the approach of “self-discretion, filing for incentives eligibility and documents archived for inspection” is introduced, so that enterprises with interim eligibility for reduced and exempted social security contributions can “automatically benefit from reduction and exemption without filling out forms and filing applications”, which further elevates the sense of gain of tax and fee payers with regard to policy benefits and service facilitation. (Responsibilities divided among Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Provincial Healthcare Security Administration and Provincial Tax Service)

7. Higher efficiency in implementing the refund of uncredited input VAT. The e-Tax Bureau is employed to expand the channels for taxpayers to apply and process the refund of uncredited input VAT online. The IT system for end-to-end monitoring of uncredited input VAT refund is optimized for greater refund efficiency. Better coordination between finance departments is in place to guarantee the fund adequacy of the treasury. The finance, taxation and treasury authorities shall work closely to establish and facilitate the electronic, paperless tax refund channels to ensure that eligible taxpayers duly receive tax refunds. (Responsibilities divided among Provincial Department of Finance, Guangzhou Branch of the People’s Bank of China and Provincial Tax Service)

8. Faster handling of all aspects in export business. The pilot program of the new export refund management system should be promoted soundly in our province. More filing channels of export tax refund (exemption) should be delivered, including offline filing tools, e-Tax Bureau and the standard version of the “single window” export refund platform for international trade, while paperless archival filing of documents is also introduced. Government authorities of commerce, customs, taxation and the People's Bank of China shall strengthen cooperation, expand data sharing, and significantly simplify the current return of export tax refund (exemption) filing. Through integrated use of inter-departmental data, export enterprises will experience faster processing in all respects, quicker document collection and sorting and uplifted overall efficiency of export refund, assuring compliant export refund transactions be processed with 5 working days on average. (Responsibilities divided among Provincial Department of Commerce, Guangdong Sub-Administration of the General Administration of Customs, Provincial Tax Service and Guangzhou Branch of the People’s Bank of China)

II. Steady facilitation to tax and fee payment

9. Joint filing of tax and fee expanded. On the basis of refining the consolidated filing of urban land use tax and real estate tax, and of value-added tax, consumption tax, urban maintenance and development tax and other surtaxes and surcharges, the joint filing of property and behavior taxes is also accelerated. The return of non-tax revenue is integrated and optimized so that taxpayers can make comprehensive tax and fee declarations via the e-Tax Bureau with “one return, one filing, one payment and one voucher". The vehicle purchase tax will require no manual input to the tax return. The number of filings, and the resulting tax and fee payment burden, will be further reduced. (Responsibility of Provincial Tax Service)

10. Curtailed processing time and frequency of payment. The Regulations on Optimizing the Business Environment is thoroughly implemented to garner efforts to reduce tax payment frequency and processing time as benchmarked against the World Bank Doing Business indicator of Paying Taxes. Tax compliance and requirement on forms, certificates and documents are simplified, invoicing efficiency is boosted and post-tax compliance procedures are optimized to diversify the means of labor tax and fee payment. The “Notification + Commitment” system of taxation certification is piloted to further cut down the certification materials needed. New measures of “one-off filing” of given taxes and fees, “one-click processing” of tax filing, “integrated online platform” for business establishment and property registration, and online correctional filing for all categories are introduced. The unified interface standard of data conversion in Finance-Tax Link-up in Guangdong is introduced and published for a wider user base. The processing time of tax and fee payment will be capped within 110 hours by then end of 2020, and to no more than 90 hours by the end of 2022, with further constricted frequency of tax payment to continuously optimize the business environment. (Led by Provincial Tax Service with responsibilities divided among Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Provincial Department of Natural Resources, Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Provincial Administration for Market Regulation and Provincial Government Affairs Data Administration)

11. Vigorous advocacy of online and mobile tax and fee transactions. The “contact-free” tax and fee payment services are ramped up, while the e-Tax Bureau will feature more functions. Electronic delivery of tax documents is introduced. Collaboration with authorities on public security, housing and urban-rural development, health insurance and government service data administration is catalyzed to enable real-time information sharing on the archival filing of online housing transaction contract signing, personal household registry and health insurance registration and payment to facilitate tax and fee payment. Institutional requirements of “one trip at most” and “no trip needed” are followed with rigor to improve professional tax service standard and facilitate tax compliance, so that policies are “accessible by scanning QR codes”, inquiries are “addressed digitally”, transactions are “processed online” and operations are “handled on the go”. All the major tax-related service items can be processed online by the end of 2020, while the tax and fee payment of enterprises can be basically done online and that of individuals, on mobile devices by the end of 2021, except for particular and complex matters. (Responsibilities divided among Provincial Public Security Department, Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Provincial Healthcare Security Administration, Provincial Government Affairs Data Administration and Provincial Tax Service)

12. Innovative pilot programs of tax and fee payment facilitation pressed ahead. Taxation services are fully capitalized to support main national and provincial development strategies, for instance the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Shenzhen’s bidding to build a pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics, as well as the rejuvenation and “new advances on four fronts” of the historical city of Guangzhou, in alignment with the development of free trade zones in Nansha of Guangzhou, Qianhai of Shenzhen and Hengqin of Zhuhai, to actively roll out innovative pilot programs in the reform of tax and fee payment facilitation, discover practices that can be replicated and scaled and upgrade the tax and fee service system. (Led by Provincial Tax Service with responsibilities divided among Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security and Provincial Healthcare Security Administration)

13. Furtherance of new industries and new business models. Government documents are formulated to support market entities in new industries and adopting new business models from the practical perspective under inclusive and prudent regulation. Market entities in new industries and following new business models receive the classified and graded service and management based on “industry + specific type” and “credit + risk” to buttress their growth. (Responsibility of Provincial Tax Service)

III. Steady progression of electronic invoicing reform for tax processing with greater speed, higher efficiency and diminished burden

14. Orderly introduction of electronic invoicing reform. Having already introduced electronic general VAT invoicing, it is hoped that Guangdong be incorporated into the national pilot program of the reform of using electronic special VAT invoices for newly registered taxpayers, which can be broadly deployed by the end of 2020 as per the overall arrangement of the State Taxation Administration. In keeping with the requirements of establishing a nationally uniform electronic invoice service platform and the trusted identification system of taxation network, inter-departmental cooperation is built up to form a management service pattern fit for e-invoicing, expedite invoice use by market entities, further curtail institutional transaction costs and better evolve smart taxation. (Led by Provincial Tax Service with responsibilities divided among Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Provincial Public Security Department, Provincial Department of Finance and Provincial Cryptography Administration)

15. Society-wide synergy of electronic invoicing. In line with the data specifications and technical standards of electronic invoicing published by the State Taxation Administration, provincial efforts are made to assist the formulation of national standards. Finance, archives and other departments shall intensify publicity and guidance, vigorously introduce the bookkeeping, reimbursement and archiving of electronic accounting vouchers, connect electronic invoices with systems of fiscal payment, financial accounting of organizations and electronic document management, and guide market entities and intermediary service providers to apply more electronic technologies to financial and accounting document management. Legal service practitioners, professional social workers and volunteers are steered to promote laws and regulations such as Measures of the Peoples Republic of China for the Administration of Invoices to bolster the use of electronic invoices. (Responsibilities divided among Provincial Tax Service, Provincial Department of Justice, Provincial Department of Finance, Provincial Archives Administration and Provincial Cryptography Administration)

IV. Optimization of tax law enforcement to protect the legitimate interests of market entities

16. Strict regulation of tax law enforcement. The collection of taxes and fees should abide by laws and regulations, and resolutely deter and prohibit over-collection. The system of administrative law enforcement publication, full-process recordation of law enforcement and legal review of major law enforcement decisions shall be comprehensively practiced, and the measures and requirements by the State Taxation Administration on optimizing the approach to tax law enforcement be put in place, to resolutely avoid arbitrary law enforcement on an inattentive, selective and one-size-fits-all basis. The list of powers and responsibilities of tax authorities should be refined, and the discretionary basis of administrative penalty will be standardized. Online processing of simple punitive matters shall gear up and the pilot system of giving justification to major tax cases be pursued. Internal control and supervision of tax enforcement is strengthened, with all-round development of IT-based internal control mechanism to standardize law enforcement activities, mitigate law enforcement risks and continue to create a fair, equitable and law-based business environment in taxation. (Responsibility of Provincial Tax Service)

17. Enhanced classified and targeted management. The tax big data and risk management system are constantly improved to establish a sound tax management system. Interim and ex post supervision is braced up, classified and graded management is adopted, standardized “credit + risk” regulation is refined, and the principle of “inspection of risks only, registration only upon approval and cessation of invoice issuance only for infractions”, making sure that enterprises in normal production and operation shall not be subject to extensive, sweeping and industry-wide risk management notification and inspection. Practices of “double random and one open” supervision, “Internet + oversight” and the like are consolidated, while diversified resolution mechanism of tax-related disputes is honed to protect the interests of tax and fee payers. Close cooperation among taxation, public security, customs, the People's Bank of China and other government authorities is boosted to crack down on tax-related criminal activities, persistently launch campaigns against fraudulent invoicing, and keep a close tab on “fake enterprises” issuing fraudulent invoices, “counterfeit exports” inveigling refund and “false filing” for tax incentives, to the end that the economic environment in taxation is cleansed. (Led by Provincial Tax Service with responsibilities divided among Provincial Public Security Department, Guangdong Sub-Administration of the General Administration of Customs and Guangzhou Branch of the People’s Bank of China)

18. Improved tax credit administration system. Measures of incentivizing credibility and punishing defaulters are further practiced pursuant to laws and regulations to build the social credit system and advance tax information sharing.  Principles of legal compliance and inclusive and prudent oversight are observed to exercise regulations on dynamic notification and restoration of tax credit rating, so that taxpayers are guided to timely and voluntarily correct dishonesty and raise their tax integrity. Dynamic management of information in major cases of tax illegality and dishonesty and list of interested parties shall be buttressed so that enlisted parties are eligible for early delisting on account of credit restoration and market entities are directed towards well-regulated and benign development. (Responsibilities divided among Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Provincial Tax Service and Guangzhou Branch of the People’s Bank of China)

V. Greater follow-up and performance assessment for elaborate and effective implementation of measures

19. Expanded publicity and guidance. Experiences of reform and innovation shall be generalized in time to greatly evangelize reform achievements. Publicity efforts will be broadly engaged to vigorously exemplify Guangdong’s innovative endeavor in implementing policies of tax cuts and fee reductions, optimizing the business environment in taxation and delivering on the agenda of “stabilizing and ensuring development in six respects” to showcase the success in reform and duly guide social expectation. (Responsibilities divided among Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Provincial Healthcare Security Administration and Provincial Tax Service)

20. Stricter performance assessment. Facilitation to tax and fee payment is evaluated and improved across the board to focus on payer experiences. Government service evaluation using the “Check Box” system is practiced in earnest, covering government service items, appraisal targets and service channels, to ensure prompt correction of each and every underperformance to comprehensively uplift the government service capability and standard and to elevate the sense of gain and satisfaction of market entities. Efforts are focused on the problems and suggestions received through petitions, public opinions and hotlines of 12366 and 12345, which are addressed with proper classification and pertinent solutions to resolve institutional bottlenecks that complicate tax and fee payment at their source. (Responsibilities divided among Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Provincial Healthcare Security Administration, Provincial Government Affairs Data Administration and Provincial Tax Service)

21. Reinforced oversight. Multiple means and resources of oversight are coordinated to redouble the supervision and inspection of the implementation of tax and fee incentives and payment facilitation measures, to hold those in lax execution accountable in all seriousness. Thorough investigation and unannounced, penetrative inspection are brought into full play to warrant early detection and correction of issues. A closed-loop management system of policy introduction, implementation, evaluation and improvement, as well as full-process administration, is improved so that policy measures directly benefit market entities at the grassroot level with no barrier and great impetus. (Responsibilities divided among Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Provincial Healthcare Security Administration and Provincial Tax Service)

All regions and government instrumentalities shall heighten their sense of urgency and accountability of the reform of tax and fee payment facilitation, step up organizational leadership and coordination, reinforce inter-departmental alignment and hierarchical teamwork, clarify responsibilities and procedures, and conduct regular studies on work plans with timely appraisal to assure effective implementation. The tax authorities at all levels should robustly work with relevant departments to study and introduce more novel measures of pragmaticism and efficaciousness around the needs of tax and fee payers, insistently optimize the business environment in taxation, steadily provide better services to market entities, and relentlessly elevate the quality and efficacy of “stabilizing and ensuring development in six respects”.

Guangdong Provincial Tax Service of the State Taxation Administration

Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission

Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department

Guangdong Provincial Department of Justice

Guangdong Provincial Department of Finance

Guangdong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security

Guangdong Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development

Guangdong Provincial Department of Commerce

Guangdong Provincial Healthcare Security Administration

Guangdong Sub-Administration of the General Administration of Customs, the People’s Republic of China

Guangzhou Branch, the People’s Bank of China

Guangdong Provincial Archives Administration

Guangdong Provincial Cryptography Administration

January 5, 2021