More taxation services to go 'non-contact'

Shanghai has made it easier for businesses to access tax services during the coronavirus outbreak.

Recent measures include arrangements for imported epidemic prevention supplies and temporary exemption of regular lump-sum tax for individual businesses.

To ensure those who are qualified benefit, the administration has delivered key information to targeted enterprises, according to Jiang Xutao, chief economist at the municipal office of the State Administration of Taxation.

In cutting taxes for individual businesses, the administration has adjusted fixed-rate tax directly from the back end allowing businesses to benefit directly.

The administration takes questions online and receives about 20,000 enquiries every day, more than 60 percent of which are answered online.

"There are 28 tax offices with "non-contact" services to deal with affairs, especially applying for and receiving invoices," Li said.

For example, with the support of district governments, the receipt of invoices can be applied online to get free delivery. So far, 40 percent of enterprises have accessed to this service, with the invoices being sent directly to the applicant's office or residence.

The administration also accepts self-declaration with no need for approval in advance, largely reducing the need for taxpayers to visit offices to submit documents. As a result, the number of people who visited offices in the past two weeks was only 20 percent of the visitors in the same period last year, Li said.

Also, the taxation administration has cooperated with the Shanghai Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, sending the relevant data to banks, to help medium, small and micro enterprises get faster credit support. To date, over 200 medium, small and micro enterprises have used the service.