The State Administration of Taxation ("SAT") has distributed the Circular on Further Promoting the Application of Industrial and Commercial Information Sharing for the Reform of "Consolidating Multiple Certificates into One" (the "Circular"), effective from November 1, 2017.
The Circular makes arrangements in several aspects, including "improving information sharing and collaboration with departments of industry and commerce", "optimizing the supplementary collection of the registration information", and "doing well in handling tax affairs of existing enterprises that have their old-style business certificates replaced with new certificates marked with the uniform social credit code". Further, the Circular requires that tax authorities at all places shall inform departments of industry and commerce of any issue on the quality of industrial and commercial information sharing in a timely manner, coordinate with departments of industry and commerce to introduce additional rules designed to check relevant information inputs, expand the scope of registration information sharing, improve and implement the mechanism for information sharing and check with departments of industry and commerce. In addition, the Circular clearly specifies that when the newly established and registered enterprises and farmers' cooperatives handle tax-related affairs for the first time, tax authorities should prepare the Form for the Confirmation of Registration Information for the Reform of "Consolidating Multiple Certificates into One" based on the registration information shared between departments of industry and commerce, and remind taxpayers of supplementing incomplete information and correcting the inaccurate information and providing some updated information.