US$9.5b tax cuts for innovative, small businesses

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

“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 China’s Cabinet, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

“The per-unit value of newly purchased research and development 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 January 1, 2018, to December 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 research and development from additional tax deduction.

The time limit for the capital loss carryover of high-tech firms and small and medium-sized technological firms will be extended from five 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 January 1, 2018. The meeting also adopted measures of stamp duty relief for books of account starting from next Tuesday.

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 January 1 for corporate income tax and from July 1 for personal income tax this year.

All the above 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.