Recently, the State Taxation Administration issued the Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on the Full Implementation of List-based Management of Tax Administrative Licensing Items and the Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on the Optimization of the Management of Tax Matters Such as Taxpayers' Deferred Payment of Taxes. The State Taxation Administration shall comprehensively implement the list-based management of tax administrative licensing items, promote the standardization, normalization, and facilitation of tax administrative Licensing, stimulate market vitality and social creativity, and promote high-quality development of economic society. At the same time, the State Taxation Administration optimizes the procedures for handling some tax matters, further facilitate taxpayers, and reduce the institutional transaction costs of market players.

The announcement made it clear that the list of administrative permission items should be compiled in accordance with the law. Based on the list of administrative licensing matters finalized by the State Council, the State Taxation Administration issued the list of administrative licensing matters for taxation implemented nationwide and incorporates into the national administrative licensing system. Tax authorities at or below the provincial level shall not implement tax administrative licenses outside the list. Lists, such as the negative list for market access, the basic list of government service items, and the "Internet + Regulation" list, shall be adjusted in a timely and dynamic manner, strictly consistent with the list and ensure an orderly connection.

The announcement proposed that tax administrative licensing should be implemented strictly in accordance with the list. The State Taxation Administration shall formulate uniform national standards for implementation, and compile guidelines in uniform format according to the lists and standards for implementation. The guidelines will be published to the public through tax service halls and tax websites and must be strictly followed and implemented without adding license conditions, application materials, intermediary services, examination and approval links, fees and quantity restrictions once published. The tax bureaus of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and cities separately listed in the plan can further reduce the time limit for the completion of tax administrative licensing commitments on the basis of the implementation of the standards and ensure that the completion at "Zero Timeout". Requirements that no administrative license outside the list would be illegally implemented should be strictly implemented, and disguised licenses should be checked and rectified seriously.

The announcement required strengthening the supervision chain of before, during and after the event, clarifying the key links of supervision, implementing targeted and differentiated regulatory policies, and improving the precision and effectiveness of supervision. Regulatory matters corresponding to tax administrative licensing matters shall be incorporated into the dynamic management system of regulatory matters on the "Internet + Regulation" platform. The State Taxation Administration has formulated and published unified rules and standards for the supervision of tax administrative licensing matters, further clarified the level of supervision, regulatory authorities, and regulatory rules and standards for the cancellation of delegated tax administrative licensing matters, held accountable those who fail to perform their duties, and resolutely put an end to problems such as simply letting them go or simply criticizing them.

The list of tax administrative licensing items (2022 version) issued by the announcement lists one tax administrative licensing item, namely "Examination and approval of the maximum invoicing limit of the VAT anti-counterfeiting tax control system", which specifies the implementing authorities, examination and approval levels, setting basis, licensing conditions, application materials and regulatory subjects.

For the five items no longer managed as administrative licensing items in the above announcement, the Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on the Optimization of the Management of Tax Matters Such as Taxpayers' Deferred Payment of Taxes clarified the specific handling procedures and related simplification and optimization measures.

-- Reduce the time limit. For items such as taxpayers' deferred payment of taxes, the acceptance process has been reduced from 5 working days to 2 working days, and the time limit for the completion of matters has been reduced by 5-10 working days on the basis of the original time limit for the completion of items.

-- Cut procedures. The handling procedures for tax matters such as taxpayers' deferred payment of taxes will be adjusted from "application, acceptance, examination and decision" to "application, acceptance and approval (verification)", and legal review and other procedures will be cancelled.

-- Simplify materials. Real-name tax payers and agents of withholding agents shall be exempted from providing personal identity documents when handling relevant matters, and electronic service of tax documents shall be implemented.

Taxpayers can enjoy the currently implemented policy of delaying the payment of part of taxes and fees for small, medium and micro manufacturing enterprises. The procedure of "approving the tax payment delay for taxpayers" stipulated in the announcement is not applicable. Those who meet the conditions can choose to enjoy the policy independently without special application. After the expiration of the policy period for deferment of tax payment, if a taxpayer meets the special difficult circumstances stipulated in the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Tax Collection" and the detailed Rules for its implementation, the procedure of "approval for deferment of Tax Payment" stipulated in the announcement shall apply, and the taxpayer may apply for deferment of tax payment according to the procedure stipulated in the announcement.