Customs Priorities in the Government Work Report for 2016

Premier Li Keqiang delivered the Government Work Report for 2016 at the fourth Session of the 12th National People's Congress on 5 March 2016 and highlighted the priorities of this year. Regarding the construction of “One Belt One Road”, Premier Li proposed to develop cooperative mechanisms in customs clearance procedures along the routes, establish international logistics networks, and promote the development of border economic cooperation zones, cross-border economic cooperation zones and overseas economic and trade cooperation zones. With respect to weakening imports and exports, he required to improve the import and export policy, promote e-commerce business, optimise trade structure, further integrate and improve special customs zones, and facilitate global trade . As to the construction of free trade zones, he proposed to speed up trade and investment liberalisation.

 

Five Chinese Authorities Jointly Issued the Administrative Measures for the Accreditation of National Enterprise Technology Centres

The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued the Administrative Measures for the Accreditation of National Enterprise Technology Centres (Order No. 34 [2016] of National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Finance, General Administration of Customs and State Administration of Taxation) on 26 February 2016. Effective from 1 April 2016, the Measures will revise the Administrative Measures of State-Accredited Enterprise Technology Centres (Order No. 53 [2007]) with an aim to further execute the innovation-driven development strategy and regulate the management of national enterprise technology centres. The Measures specifies the accreditation of national enterprise technology centres, operation evaluation, incentive policies, supervision and management. It also stipulates that the accreditation should be arranged once a year and the evaluation shall be conducted once every two years.

 

China Customs Issued the Administrative Rulings on Commodity Classification of 2016 (II)

The General Administration of Customs issued the Announcement on Issuing the Administrative Rulings on Commodity Classification of 2016 (II) (GAC Announcement [2016] No. 21) on 28 March 2016 and published its administrative rulings on the classification of two types of commodities, namely, “NVIDIA TV entertainment machine” and “virtual reality head-wear equipment” submitted by NVIDIA Semiconductor Technology Services (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.,  and Sony Computer Entertainment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., respectively.

 

China Customs Revised the Standards of Filling in Customs Declaration Forms

The General Administration of Customs issued the Announcement on Revised the Standards of Filling in Customs Declaration Forms for Imports and Exports (GAC Announcement [2016] No. 20) on 24 March  2016 to modify the previous version of the Standards, with an aim to regulate the declaration of the consignor and consignee of imported and exported goods, and standardise the completion requirements of declaration forms. The revision mainly modifies the name of certain declaration columns, maximum of declared goods, and adds new declaration items like special relationship confirmation, price impact confirmation and royalties payment confirmation, which reflects the new requirements of China Customs on the declaration and supervision of imported and exported goods.

For more information about the policy update, you may refer to our KPMG China Tax Alert through the following link:
China Customs Revises the Standards for Filling in Declaration Forms (PDF 258KB)

 

Announcement on the Application and Approval of the Establishment of the Bonded Logistics Centre (B)

The General Administration of Customs, the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange jointly released the Announcement on the Application and Approval of the Establishment of the Bonded Logistics Centre (B) (Announcement [2016] No. 18 of General Administration of Customs, Ministry of Finance, State Administration of Taxation and State Administration of Foreign Exchange) on 15 March 2016 to further standardise the application and approval of the establishment of the bonded logistics centres. Relevant issues include the laws and regulations to comply with, application documents, basis for approval, and etc.

 

China Released New Import Tax Policies for Cross-border E-commerce

The Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Custom and the State Administration of Taxation jointly released the Notice on Import Tax Polices for Retail of Cross-border E-commerce (Cai Guan Shui [2016] No. 18) on 24 March 2016 to adjust the import tax policy for retail of cross-border e-commerce.  Effective on 8 April, 2016, the Notice clearly stipulates that cross-border e-commerce imports shall be deemed as the imports of general trade goods and be subject to Customs Duty, Import VAT and Import Consumption tax. It also specifies the quota and forms of taxation for a single transaction and annual transaction, as well as the implication of return of goods on taxation. Currently, the List of Commodities Imported for Retails through Cross-border E-commerce was just jointly released by related 11 governmental authorities.

 

The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council Adjusted the Import Duty on Imported Articles

For the imports of individual articles, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council released the Notice on Relevant Issues Concerning the Adjustment of Import Duty on Imported Articles (Shui Wei Hui [2016] No.2) on 16 March  2016  to improve the tax policy of imported articles, which will take effect on 8 April 2016. According to the Notice, the previous four taxable categories for imported articles will be adjusted to three categories, with the corresponding tax rates at 15%, 30% and 60%, respectively.

For more information about the policy update, you may refer to our KPMG China Tax Alert through the following link:
China’s New Import Tax Polices for Cross-border E-commerce worth the attention of the whole industry (PDF 223.6KB)

 

China Customs opened the Client Software and Business Data Exchange Interface for the Customs Pre-Input System

The General Administration of Custom issued the Announcement on the opening of the Client Software and Business Data Exchange Interface for the Customs Pre-Input System (GAC Announcement [2016] No. 16) on 17 March 2016 to promote the steady growth of foreign trade and improve customs clearance efficiency for enterprises. The release of the Announcement is expected to overcome the obstacles in the connection between enterprises and the Customs system for data exchange. Currently, enterprises still need to confirm data exchange details with relevant authorities if they want to develop corresponding data interface.

For more information about the policy update, you may refer to our KPMG China Tax Alert through the following link:
China Customs Issues Important Announcement on Trade Facilitation, Getting Through the Last Mile of Customs Declaration for Various Customs Business (PDF 280.5KB)

 

The Termination of Approval Procedure on Deferred Payment of Tariffs and Import Tax Levied by Customs

The General Administration of Custom issued the Announcement on the Termination of Approval Procedure on Deferred Payment of Tariffs and Import Tax Levied by Customs as Representative (GAC Announcement [2016] No. 15) on 13 March  2016 and stipulated that, without Customs approval, taxpayers who are unable to pay tax promptly due to force majeure event or revision of tax policies could directly complete the formalities for deferred payment of tax with the Customs after providing tax guarantee.

 

MIIT and Other Four Departments Jointly Issued the Notice on Adjustments Related to Application Acceptance Procedures for Import Duty Incentives for Key Technical Equipment

The General Office of the Ministry of Industry & Information Technology, General Office of the Ministry of Finance and General Office of the General Administration of Customs jointly issued the Notice on Adjustments Related to Application Acceptance Procedures for Import Duty Incentives for Key Technical Equipment (Gong Xin Ting Lian Cai [2016] No.40) on 11 March  2016 to implement the import tax policy of major technical equipment. This Notice stipulates the acceptance procedures for local enterprises’ and central enterprises’ applications and other related issues. Acceptance procedures include those in relation to the person in charge, documents collection, time and forms of submission review, and etc. Other issues include timely adjustment of the catalogues of key technical equipment entitled to import duty incentives, performance evaluation and analysis, and change of events.

 

China Customs Launches the New Express Clearance System

The General Administration of Custom issued the Announcement on Opening the New Express Clearance System (GAC Announcement [2016] No. 19) on 9 March 2016 and decided to officially launch a new express clearance management system from 1 June 2016, thereby phasing out the declaration function of the original Customs clearance management system. The new system is applicable to the customs declaration of the inbound and outbound of documents, personal items and low value goods through express consignment channel. This is conducive for the Customs to regulate its supervision over inbound and outbound couriers, increase the use of information technology, and improve the efficiency of customs clearance. 

 

Shenzhen Customs trials Enterprises Voluntary Disclosure Program within the Whole District

Shenzhen Customs issued the Announcement of Trialling Enterprises Voluntary Disclosure Program within the Whole District (Announcement of Shenzhen Customs [2016] No. 2) on 28 March 2016, with an aim to take advantage enterprise’s role of market player , guide enterprises to comply with the laws, and foster social credit system. Enterprises within Shenzhen Customs District can voluntarily participate in the pilot program. Voluntary enterprises should either conduct self-review on the compliance of their last three years of import and export operations and/or related activities, or engage a qualified agency to carry out the review. These enterprises shall provide a written report, as well as relevant information and documents to the competent customs office. Enterprises that voluntarily disclose non-compliance identified may be granted a lighter or mitigated treatment or be exempted from administrative punishment.

China Released New Tax Policy for Import of Cross-border E-commerce, and the industry implications deserved attention
China’s New Import Tax Polices for Cross-border E-commerce worth the attention of the whole industry (PDF 223.6KB)

China Customs Revised the Standards of Filling in Customs Declaration Forms
China Customs Revises the Standards for Filling in Declaration Forms (PDF 258KB)

China Customs Issued Important Announcement on Trade Facilitation, Getting Through the Last Mile of Customs Declaration for Various Customs Business
China Customs Issues Important Announcement on Trade Facilitation, Getting Through the Last Mile of Customs Declaration for Various Customs Business (PDF 280.5KB)