China widens VAT to more regions in tax reduction

 BEIJING, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government said Wednesday that it will expand the pilot reform of replacing turnover¹ tax with value-added tax (VAT²) to 10 more provinces and cities from August 1 this year as part of the country's efforts in structural³ tax reduction.

The VAT will be applied⁴ to the transport sector⁵ and part of service industries in Beijing and Tianjin municipalities, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Hubei and Guangdong provinces, as well as the cities of Xiamen and Shenzhen, according to a decision handed down by an executive meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet.

The State Council promised to expand the pilot reform to more cities and sectors⁶ next year.

China's VAT pilot is part of a broader tax reform that began in 2009 with the aim of lowering the overall tax burden and boosting certain sectors.

Shanghai was the first city to try the VAT reform, where the business tax has been substituted by VAT with an 11-percent VAT rate on the transport sector and a 6-percent rate on the modern service industry, including research and development, culture, logistics and consultation⁷, and technological⁸ services.

An indirect tax typically on an ad valorem basis, turnover tax applies to a production process of a business with the tax rates varying from 3 percent to 15 percent according to different sectors, while a VAT is taxed on the difference between a commodity's price before taxes and its cost of production.

Under China's current tax regime, VAT is collected by the state taxation⁹ authorities, with 75 percent turned in to the central government and the rest to local governments. Revenues from business tax belong to local governments and account for more than one-third of local government incomes.

Based on calculations from the State Administration of Tax (SAT), the replacement¹⁰ of the turnover tax could lift China's gross domestic product growth by 0.5 percentage point, Xiao Jie, director of the SAT, said in March.

1 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

2 vat   

n.(=value added tax)增值税，大桶

参考例句：

• The office is asking for the vat papers.办事处要有关增值税的文件。
• His father emptied sacks of stale rye bread into the vat.他父亲把一袋袋发霉的黑面包倒进大桶里。

3 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

4 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

6 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

8 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

9 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

10 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。