Laws of the People's Republic of China

The Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation

Circular of the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation on the Tax Policies for Further Encouraging the Development of Software and Integrated Circuit Industries

CaiShui[2002] No.70

October 10, 2002

The finance departments (bureaus), state tax bureaus and local tax bureaus of the provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, municipalities separately listed on the State Plan, and the finance bureau of Xinjiang Army Corps of Production and Construction:

In order to further encourage the development of software and integrated circuit (IC) industries, the supplementary notice on the relevant preferential tax policies is hereby made as follows upon approval of the State Council and in accordance with the relevant provisions of the existing tax law:

I.

From January 1, 2002 to the end of 2010, with respect to the self-made IC products (including monocrystalline silicon wafers) sold by value-added tax (VAT) general taxpayers, after the VAT has been collected at a 17% rate, the policy of "refund upon collection" shall be applied to the actual VAT load that exceeds 3%, and the tax refunded shall be used by the enterprises in the expansion of production and the study and development of IC products.

II.

With respect to the production enterprises of IC products whose product line is less than 0.8 micron (including 0.8 micron) wide, after certification, the policy of "two-year exemption and three-year reduced payment" of enterprise income tax shall be applied from the year when the enterprise begins to make profits from 2002, that is, for the first and second year after the enterprise begins to make profits, the enterprise income tax shall be exempted, and from the third to fifth year, the enterprise income tax shall be half exempted.

The enterprises with foreign investment that have already enjoyed "two-year exemption and three-year reduced payment" of enterprise income tax from the profit-making year, according to the Law on Income Tax of Enterprises with Foreign Investment and Foreign Enterprises and the detailed rules for implementation thereof, shall no longer implement this Article.

With regard to the enterprises with foreign investment that may enjoy exemption of enterprise income tax for two years from the profit-making year according to the Law on Income Tax of Foreign-funded Enterprises and Foreign Enterprises and the detailed rules for implementation thereof, if the "two-year exemption" of enterprise income tax actually enjoyed expired before 2002 (excluding 2002), then the "two-year exemption" shall not be implemented for a second time; if the "two-year exemption" of enterprise income tax has been actually enjoyed for less than 2 years before 2002 (excluding 2002), the remaining period of tax exemption and the "three-year reduced payment" shall be implemented from thereon.

The domestic-funded enterprises that are exempted from enterprise income tax for two years from the year of starting production according to the Circular on Several Preferential Tax Policies on Enterprise Income Tax (CuiShuiZi (94) No.001) of the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation shall implement "two-year exemption and three-year reduced payment" of enterprise income tax from the profit-making year instead. If the enterprise made profits before 2002 (excluding 2002) and "two-year exemption" of enterprises income tax actually enjoyed from the profit-making year expires, the "two-year exemption" shall no longer be implemented for a second time, and the "three-year reduced payment" of enterprise income tax shall be implemented from 2002; if the enterprise made profits before 2002 (excluding 2002), and has actually enjoyed "two-year exemption" of enterprises income tax from the profit-making year for less than 2 years, the remaining tax exemption period and "three-year reduced payment" shall be implemented from thereon.

The IC production enterprises whose investment exceeds RMB 8 billion yuan or whose IC line is less than 0.25 micron wide shall continue implementation of the Circular on the Relevant Tax Policy Issues of Encouraging the Development of Software and IC Industries of the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation and the General Administration of Customs (CaiShui [2000] No.25).

III.

From January 1, 2002 to the end of 2010, for the investors of IC production and capsulation enterprises that increase the registered capital of their enterprises directly with the profits after payment of enterprise income tax, or use such profits as capital to launch other IC production or capsulation enterprises, of which the operation duration is no less than 5 years, the enterprise income tax already paid for the part used as reinvestment shall be refunded at a 40% rate. If the enterprise withdraws the investment after less than 5 years from the reinvestment, it shall be forced to return the enterprise income tax refunded.

From January 1, 2002 to the end of 2010, for the domestic and foreign economic organizations that invest in the western regions, with their profits obtained within China after the payment of enterprise income tax, to launch IC production or capsulation enterprises or software production enterprises, of which the operation duration is no less than 5 years, the enterprise income tax already paid for the part used as reinvestment shall be refunded at an 80% rate. If the enterprise withdraws the investment after less than 5 years from the reinvestment, it shall be forced to return the enterprise income tax refunded.

The range of western regions shall comply with the Circular of the General Office of the State Council on Transmitting the Office of Western Region Development of the State Council on Opinions on the Implementation of Several Policies and Measures for Western Region Development (GuoBanFa [2001] No.73), that is the western regions include Chongqing Municipality, Sichuan Province, Guizhou Province, Yunnan Province, Tibet Autonomous Region, Shannxi Province, Gansu Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, Xijiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Army Corps of Production and Construction, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The aforesaid policies shall be applied by analogy to the western regions in Tujia Autonomous Prefecture of Xiangxi of Hunan Province, Tujia & Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Enshi of Hubei Province, Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Yabian of Jilin Province.

IV.

Other policies and provisions relating to encouragement for software industry and IC industries shall comply with the Circular on the Relevant Tax Policy Issues of Encouraging the Development Software and IC Industries (CaiShui [2000] No.25) of the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation and the General Administration of Customs.

If any previous policies conflict with this Circular, the latter shall prevail.