China announces tax cuts worth 60 bln yuan for innovative, small businesses

BEIJING - China will make further tax cuts worth over 60 billion yuan (about $9.5 billion) to drive innovation and entrepreneurship and boost the development of small and micro businesses, the State Council said Wednesday.

"The move aims to reduce the cost for innovation and entrepreneurship, energize small and micro businesses, and spur job creation," said a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

"The per unit value of newly-purchased research and development (R&D) instruments and equipment eligible for the one-time tax deduction will be raised from 1 million to 5 million yuan. The annual taxable income threshold of small and micro businesses eligible for halved income tax will be raised from 500,000 to 1 million yuan," the statement said.

These two measures will be effective from Jan 1, 2018 to Dec 31, 2020, it said.

The tax cut is part of efforts to implement the requirements set out by the Central Economic Work Conference and the Government Work Report.

The meeting also decided to abolish the preclusion of the expenses of commissioned overseas R&D from additional tax deduction.

The time limit for the capital loss carryover of high-tech firms and technological small and medium-sized firms will be extended from 5 to 10 years. All enterprises will see the tax deduction for employee training costs raised from the current 2.5 percent to 8 percent, the same rate as high-tech companies enjoy.

The above three measures are effective from Jan 1 this year.

The meeting also adopted measures of stamp duty relief for books of account starting from May 1, 2018.

The tax incentive enjoyed by venture capital firms and angel investors that sees 70 percent of their investment deducted from the taxable income of the seed and early stage high-tech startups they finance will be extended nationwide, the meeting decided.

The policy has been piloted in the country's eight innovation and reform experimental zones and Suzhou Industrial Park. Such tax cuts will be implemented from Jan 1 for corporate income tax and from July 1 for personal income tax this year.

All the above mentioned measures are expected to reduce corporate tax burden by over 60 billion yuan. The move follows a 400 billion yuan tax cut package for 2018, which was decided at a State Council executive meeting on March 28.

The meeting also demanded implementation of the inclusive financial service policies targeted at small businesses and the rural economy so as to cut the financing cost for micro and rural companies.