(Adopted by the 12th Executive Meeting of the State Council on November 26, 1993, promulgated by Decree No.134 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on December 13, 1993, and effective on January 1, 1994)

Article 1 All units and individuals which and who, in the territory of the People's Republic of China, sell goods, render services such as processing, repair and spare parts replacement, or import goods, shall be the taxpayers of value-added tax (hereinafter referred to as "taxpayers"), and should pay the value-added tax in accordance with this Regulation.

Article 2 The value-added tax rate shall be --

1. 17% for the taxpayers selling or importing goods, except as otherwise provided for in this Article (2) and (3). or

2. 13% for the taxpayers selling or importing the following goods:

(1) grains, edible vegetable oils;

(2) tap water, heating, air conditioning, hot water, coal gas, liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas, methane gas, coal/charcoal products for household use;

(3) books, newspapers, magazines;

(4) feeds, chemical fertilizer, agricultural chemicals, agricultural machinery, plastic film for farming purposes;

(5) other goods laid down by the State Council. or

3. zero for the taxpayers exporting goods, except as otherwise provided for by the State Council. or

4. 17% for the taxpayers rendering services such as processing, repair or spare parts replacement (hereinafter referred to as the "taxable service").

Any adjustment to the tax rate shall be made only by the State Council.

Article 3 A taxpayer dealing in goods or taxable services under different tax rates shall be required to separately calculate his sales amount of goods or taxable services under different tax rates. If he fails to make such calculation, the highest tax rate shall be applicable.

Article 4 Except as otherwise provided for in Article 13 of this Regulation, the value-added tax chargeable on the goods sold or taxable services rendered by the taxpayer (hereinafter referred to as the "sale of goods or taxable services") shall be the amount remaining from the sales tax amount of current period after deducting the purchases tax amount of current period. Its formula is as follows:

Value-added Tax = Sales Tax Amount of Current Period - Purchases Tax Amount of Current Period

If the sales tax amount of current period is less than, and insufficient to offset against, the purchases tax amount of current period, the excess amount of purchases tax may be carried forward for set-off in the subsequent period.

Article 5 The sales tax amount of the taxpayer selling goods or taxable services shall be the amount of value-added tax which is assessed in accordance with the sales amount and the tax rate set out in Article 2 of this Regulation and collected from the purchaser. Its formula is as follows:

Sales Tax Amount = Sales Amount X Tax Rate

Article 6 The sales amount shall be the total costs plus all other charges received from the purchasers by the taxpayer selling goods or taxable services, not including the sales tax amount received.

The sales amount shall be calculated in Renminbi. The sales amount in foreign currency of a taxpayer shall be converted into the amount in Renminbi in accordance with the exchange rate prevailing in the foreign exchange market for such calculation.

Article 7 If the price of the goods or taxable services sold by the taxpayer is obviously low without proper reasons, the competent tax authority shall calculate his sales amount.

Article 8 The purchases tax amount shall be the amount of value-added tax which is paid or borne by the taxpayer buying goods or receiving taxable services (hereinafter referred to as the "purchase of goods or taxable services").

Except as otherwise provided for in Paragraph 3 of this Article, the purchases tax amount that may be deducted from the sales tax amount shall be the amount of value-added tax indicated in --

1. the special value-added tax invoice obtained from the seller; or

2. the tax payment certificate obtained from the customs office.

The purchases tax amount deductible for the purchase of tax-free farm products shall be calculated in accordance with the purchasing price and deduction rate of 10%. Its formula is as follows:

Purchases Tax Amount = Purchasing Price X Deduction Rate

Article 9 Where a taxpayer, in purchasing goods or taxable services, fails to obtain and retain pursuant to regulations the value-added tax withholding certificate, or where the value-added tax amount and other related items are not indicated on the value-added tax withholding certificate pursuant to regulations, no purchases tax amount may be deducted from the sales tax amount.

Article 10 No purchases tax amount of the following items may be deducted from the sales tax amount:

1. fixed assets purchased;

2. goods or taxable services purchased for non-taxable items;

3. goods or taxable services purchased for tax-free items;

4. goods or taxable services purchased for collective welfare or individual consumption;

5. abnormal loss of goods purchased;

6. goods or taxable services consumed in the production of work-in progress or finished products purchased which suffer abnormal loss.

Article 11 The value-added tax of the small-scale taxpayer selling goods or taxable services shall be assessed in accordance with the simplified method.

The criteria for small-scale taxpayers shall be laid down by the Ministry of Finance.

Article 12 The tax rate applicable to the small-scale taxpayers selling goods or taxable services shall be 6%.

Any adjustment to such rate shall be made only by the State Council.

Article 13 The value-added tax of the small-scale taxpayer selling goods or taxable services shall be assessed in accordance with the sales amount and the tax rate set out in Article 12 of this Regulation and no purchases tax amount may be deducted. The formula for assessing the tax amount payable is as follows:

Tax Amount Payable = Sales Amount X Tax Rate

The sales amount shall be calculated by applying mutatis mutandis the provisions of Articles 6 and 7 of this Regulation.

Article 14 A small-scale taxpayer who maintains a sound accounting and is able to provide accurate taxation records may not, subject to approval of the competent tax authority, be treated as a small-scale taxpayer, and in that case the value-added tax shall be assessed in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Regulation.

Article 15 In the case of the taxpayer importing goods, the value-added tax shall be assessed in accordance with the composite assessable price and the tax rate set out in Article 2 of this Regulation and no tax may be deducted. The formulas for the composite assessable price and for the tax amount payable are as follows:

Composite Assessable Price = Customs Dutiable Price + Customs Tariffs + Consumption Tax

Tax Amount Payable = Composite Assessable Price X Tax Rate.

Article 16 The following items shall be relieved from value-added tax:

1. self-produced farm products sold by agricultural producers;

2. contraceptive medicines and devices;

3. antique books;

4. imported instruments and equipment directly used in scientific research, experiment and education;

5. imported materials and equipment from foreign governments and international organizations as assistance free of charge;

6. equipment required to be imported under contract processing, assembly and compensation trade;

7. articles imported directly by organizations for the disabled for special use by them;

8. sale of articles already used by the seller.

Except as provided for in the preceding paragraph, the items subject to exemption or reduction from the value-added tax shall be prescribed only by the State Council. No locality or department may prescribe any exemption or reduction from the value-added tax.

Article 17 A taxpayer dealing in tax-exempt or tax-reduced items simultaneously shall calculate his sales amount for tax-exempt or tax-reduced items separately; If he fails to make such calculation, no exemption or reduction may be allowed.

Article 18 A taxpayer whose sales amount has not reached the value-added tax minimum taxable threshold laid down by the Ministry of Finance shall be relieved from the value-added tax.

Article 19 The time at which the liability for paying the value-added tax arises shall be as follows:

1. In the case of selling goods or taxable services, it is the date of receiving sales money or obtaining the document of title to collect such money.

2. In the case of importing goods, it is the date of import declaration.

Article 20 Value-added tax shall be collected by the tax authorities, and value-added tax chargeable on imported goods shall be collected by the customs offices on behalf of the tax authorities.

Value-added tax on self-used articles brought or mailed into China by individuals shall be assessed and collected together with Customs tariffs. The concrete measures shall be formulated by the Tariff Policy Committee of the State Council together with relevant departments.

Article 21 A taxpayer shall, in selling goods or taxable services, issue a special value-added tax invoice to the buyer, and record clearly the sales amount and sales tax amount on such invoice.

Where an invoice is needed to issue, an ordinary invoice shall be issued and no special value-added tax invoice may be issued under one of the following circumstances:

1. selling goods or taxable services to consumers;

2. selling tax-free goods;

3. selling goods or taxable services by small-scale taxpayers.

Article 22 Place of payment

1. A business with fixed establishment shall pay the tax to the competent tax authority in the place where its establishment is located. Where the head office and branch offices are not located in the same county (city), they shall pay the tax separately to their respective local competent tax authorities; The head office may, upon approval of the State Administration for Taxation or its authorized tax authority, gather together, and pay the tax to the competent tax authority in the place where the head office is located.

2. A business with fixed establishment selling goods in different counties (cities) shall apply for the issuance of an outbound business activities tax administration certificate from the competent tax authority in the place where its establishment is located and shall pay the tax to the competent tax authority in the place where its establishment is located. A business selling goods and taxable services in different counties (cities) without the outbound business activities tax administration certificate issued by the competent tax authority in the place where its establishment is located, shall pay the tax to the competent tax authority in the place where the sales activities take place; the competent tax authority in the place where its establishment is located shall collect the tax which has not been paid to the competent tax authority in the place where the sales activities take place.

3. A business without a fixed establishment selling goods or taxable services shall pay the tax to the competent tax authority in the place where the sales activities take place.

4. In the case of importation of goods, the importer or his agent shall pay the tax to the customs office where the imports are declared.

Article 23 The period for which payment of value-added tax can be made should be one day, three days, five days, 10 days, 15 days or one month. The actual period for a taxpayer shall be ratified by the competent tax authority according to the tax payable of the taxpayer; a taxpayer who cannot make a regular payment may pay the tax on a transaction-by-transaction basis.

In the period of one month, the taxpayer shall pay the tax within 10 days following the end of the period; in the case of the period of one day, three days, five days, 10 days or 15 days, the taxpayer shall prepay the tax within five days following the end of the period and a monthly tax return shall be filed with any balance of tax due settled within 10 days from the first day of the next month.

Article 24 A taxpayer importing goods shall pay the tax within seven days after the issuance of the tax payment certificate by the customs office.

Article 25 A taxpayer exporting goods which the applied tax rate is zero shall, upon completion of export procedures with the customs office, apply for the tax refund on those export goods to the tax authority on a monthly basis based on such relevant documents as the export declaration. The concrete measures shall be formulated by the State Administration for Taxation.

Where the return of goods or the withdrawal of the Customs declaration occurs after the completion of the tax refund on the export goods, the taxpayer shall repay the tax refunded according to law.

Article 26 The administration of value-added tax collection shall be governed by the relevant provisions of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Collection of Tax and this Regulation.

Article 27 The imposition of value-added tax on enterprises with foreign investment and foreign enterprises shall be governed by the relevant decisions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Article 28 The Ministry of Finance is responsible for the interpretation of this Regulation and shall formulate the detailed rules for implementing it.

Article 29 This Regulation shall enter into force on January 1, 1994. The Regulation of the People's Republic of China on Value-added Tax (Draft) and the Regulation of the People's Republic of China on Product Tax (Draft), promulgated by the State Council on September 18, 1984, shall be repealed on the same date.

Close