"Implement the structural tax and fee reduction policies, and focus on supporting technological innovation and manufacturing development." Following the 2023 Central Economic Work Conference, the National Taxation Work Conference was held in Beijing from January 24th to 25th, at which it was proposed that, In the future, tax policies will pay more attention to precision and structure, with increases and decreases. Among them, manufacturing, technological innovation, small and micro enterprises, etc. are the key targets of preferential tax policies.
On January 28, the People's Daily issued an article explaining how to implement the structural tax reduction and fee reduction policy. Wang Shiyu, director of the Income Tax Department of the State Administration of Taxation, said that the next step is to continue to increase the implementation of preferential tax policies to support scientific and technological research and development, and gradually form a tax policy support system covering the entire life cycle of enterprise growth and innovation. At the same time, Xie Wen, director of the Goods and Service Tax Department of the State Administration of Taxation, pointed out that the tax department will continue to provide relief to manufacturing companies, enhance their confidence, and help the real economy develop steadily.
Taxpayers in the private economy benefit significantly
According to data released by the State Administration of Taxation, in 2023, new tax cuts and fee reductions and tax rebates and fee deferrals nationwide will reach 2.22899 billion yuan, of which the manufacturing industry, small and medium-sized enterprises, and the private economy will all benefit significantly.
Specifically, by industry, manufacturing and related wholesale and retail industries accounted for the highest proportion, with 949.53 billion yuan in new tax cuts and fee reductions and tax rebates and deferrals, accounting for 42.6%; by enterprise size, small, medium and micro enterprises benefited The most obvious is that 1,426.42 billion yuan of new tax cuts, fee reductions, tax rebates and deferrals were implemented, accounting for 64%. In terms of economic types, taxpayers in the private economy benefited significantly, with 1.68646 billion yuan of new tax cuts, fee reductions, tax rebates and deferrals, accounting for 64% of the total. 75.7%.
In addition, in terms of policies, the policy of reducing or exempting value-added tax for small-scale taxpayers added 650.98 billion yuan in tax cuts and fee reductions, and the policy of reducing income tax for small and micro enterprises added 178.88 billion yuan in tax cuts, supporting technological innovation in advanced manufacturing, industrial machinery, The policy of adding value-added tax deductions for integrated circuit enterprises added a new tax reduction of 120.85 billion yuan, and the policy of raising the standard for special additional deductions for personal income tax added a new tax reduction of 39.18 billion yuan.
At the Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2023, it was proposed that structural tax and fee reduction policies should be implemented in 2024, focusing on supporting technological innovation and manufacturing development, and planning a new round of fiscal and taxation reforms. Recently, the National Taxation Work Conference further proposed that, unlike previous years when preferential tax policies emphasized scale and inclusiveness, taking into account fiscal sustainability, tax policies will pay more attention to precision and structure in the future. There has been an increase but also a decrease, among which manufacturing, technological innovation, small and micro enterprises, etc. are the key targets of preferential tax and fee policy support.
In this regard, Zhu Keli, executive director of the China Information Association and founding director of the Guoyan New Economic Research Institute, told a Beijing Business Daily reporter that the focus is on technological innovation and manufacturing development, mainly because these two areas are important in promoting high-quality economic development. significance. Scientific and technological innovation is a core element in improving national competitiveness. Tax reduction and fee reduction policies can reduce corporate R&D costs, encourage enterprises to increase investment in scientific and technological innovation, and promote the transformation and application of scientific and technological innovation results. As the manufacturing industry is a pillar industry of the national economy, tax reduction and fee reduction policies can reduce corporate production costs, improve product quality and competitiveness, and promote the development of the manufacturing industry in the direction of high-end and intelligence.
"Looking forward to 2024, the tax and fee reduction policy will continue to focus on technological innovation and manufacturing development, and may extend to emerging and broader fields such as environmental protection and new energy." Zhu Keli said.
Focus on manufacturing, technological innovation and other areas
Zhu Keli pointed out that in recent years, as my country continues to promote tax and fee reductions, the focus of its policies has changed to some extent. This not only reflects the flexibility and adaptability of my country's tax policy, but also reflects the phased characteristics of my country's economic development.
"In the initial stage, policies mainly focused on reducing corporate tax burdens and reducing the overall tax burden level on society to stimulate market vitality. With economic development and industrial structure adjustment, policies gradually turned to optimizing tax structures and supporting the development of specific industries and fields to promote Economic transformation and upgrading. Now the policy is more focused on improving the accuracy and effectiveness of tax reduction and fee reduction policies to ensure that the policies can truly benefit enterprises and industries that need support," Zhu Keli said.
In addition, Luo Zhiheng, chief economist and director of the research institute of Guangdong Securities, also said that continuous tax cuts and fee reductions have effectively reduced the burden on enterprises and residents, improved the cash flow of market entities, promoted technological innovation, and effectively improved The ability of market entities to resist risks. However, after experiencing continuous large-scale tax and fee reductions, and under the current increasingly severe fiscal situation, it is necessary to think about how to use limited financial resources more efficiently.
Judging from the "Policy and Regulation Library" column on the website of the State Administration of Taxation, in 2023 alone, more than 70 continued, optimized, and improved preferential tax policies were released. The policy release time is tight, the coverage is wide, the duration is long, and the support is The intensity is strong and the precision, continuity and institutional nature of policy support are highlighted.
In view of the technological innovation and manufacturing development that will be focused on by the structural tax and fee reduction policy in 2024, according to the People's Daily, Wang Shiyu said that in the next step, we must continue to increase the implementation of preferential tax and fee policies to support scientific and technological research and development, and insist on reducing R&D expenses. The policy of increasing the pre-tax super deduction ratio to 100% will be implemented as a long-term institutional arrangement to enhance the certainty of tax benefits for scientific research and development.
At the same time, we will continue to stimulate the enthusiasm and initiative of enterprises for scientific and technological innovation, guide enterprises to take the road of independent innovation with preferential tax policies, and gradually form a tax policy support system covering the entire life cycle of enterprise growth and innovation; continue to optimize the transformation of scientific and technological achievements Policy environment, explore and enrich preferential tax policies for the income from research and development results, and encourage the deep integration of industry, academia and research and the transformation of innovative scientific and technological achievements.
Xie Wen said that the tax department will make scientific plans and implement precise policies to continue to relieve manufacturing companies from difficulties, enhance confidence, and help the real economy develop steadily. On the one hand, we continue to optimize the "policy recruitment" working mechanism, strengthen publicity and guidance, and actively help manufacturing companies transform and upgrade to high-end, intelligent, and green; on the other hand, we strengthen risk prevention and improve the normalized joint efforts of seven departments to combat false starts. The tax fraud working mechanism ensures that policy dividends for manufacturing enterprises can be accurately delivered and enjoyed quickly.
Breaking through the “last mile”
In addition to improving tax policy research, the tax department is constantly promoting direct policy implementation. It is reported that in 2023, the State Administration of Taxation has successively formulated and implemented the "Optimization and Upgrading Plan for Accurate Push of Tax Policies", "Working Standards for Accurate Push of Tax Policies (Trial)", and "Continue to Optimize and Improve the Preferential Tax Policies in 2023" "One Policy, One Plan" Accurate "Push Work Coordination and Implementation Rules" and other systems.
Specifically, it depends on the situation of each province and city. For example, the Beijing tax department relies on the hierarchical classification and labeling system to push personalized tax policies through the "customized e-service" function; the Hunan tax department uses tax big data to develop an inventory of enterprises that meet policy conditions and establish a comprehensive list of enterprises that meet policy conditions. The extensive "tag library matrix" realizes the transformation from "people looking for policies" to "policies looking for people"; the Guangdong tax department uses cutting-edge technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence to build "accurate push, intelligent interaction, and collaboration in handling inquiries" , full-process interaction" to recruit new interactive service methods, etc. Data shows that since July 2023, the national tax system has carried out precise policy push for more than 670 million households (persons).
According to the requirements of the National Tax Work Conference, we will continue to deepen tax collection and administration reforms in 2024, steadily promote the promotion and application of comprehensive digital electronic invoices, expand the scope of the new national unified electronic tax bureau, deepen and expand the application of tax big data, and improve the efficiency of digital intelligent governance.
Zhu Keli said that to implement the "last mile" of the structural tax reduction and fee reduction policy, how to ensure that the tax reduction and fee reduction policy truly benefits the target enterprises is a key issue. It is urgent to establish a complete policy transmission mechanism to ensure that the policy can be accurate. Timely transmission to the enterprise level also requires strengthening the supervision and evaluation of policy implementation to ensure that the policy can be effectively implemented.
Luo Zhiheng once pointed out that the effectiveness of tax reduction and fee reduction requires the cooperation of other policies, and the methods and methods of tax reduction and fee reduction must be more scientific, otherwise the result will be half the result with twice the effort. Take the reduction of the value-added tax rate as an example. For enterprises, the value-added tax is an out-of-price tax that mainly improves the cash flow statement. However, since it is not directly included in the income statement, the reduction of the value-added tax rate does not directly improve the income statement. Entrepreneurs' The sense of gain is not obvious; and the proportion of value-added tax is too large, so it should no longer be the focus of tax reduction and fee reduction, otherwise the impact on financial resources will be too great. The transmission path of tax cuts and fee reductions should be considered based on the behavior of micro entities, rather than taking it for granted that tax cuts and fee reductions can produce results.
"In addition, preventing tax loopholes and tax avoidance is also an important issue. It is necessary to strengthen tax collection and administration, improve the tax laws and regulations system, and improve tax collection and administration efficiency and service levels. Solving these problems cannot be achieved without the joint efforts and collaboration of the government, enterprises and all sectors of society. Ensure that the tax reduction and fee reduction policies truly take root and further exert their effectiveness," Zhu Keli said.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Fang Binnan Cheng Liang