Recently, five authorities including the Ministry of Finance ("MOF") have jointly issued the Administrative Measures for Import Tax Policies for Major Technical Equipment (the "Measures"), immediately effective from the date of issuance.
Compared with the previous version, the Measures incorporate principal changes including: canceling the tax-free quota under the import tax policies for major technical equipment, a helpful move to conform to the rule of market economy and give further play to the role of import tax policies; re-designating the authority leading the administration of such policies to be the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ("MIIT"), which is favorable to bringing the industry regulator's superiority into full play and streamlining procedures for administration of these policies; and clearly specifying that the MIIT will formulate the implementing rules of the administrative measures separately. Among others, the Measures provide that enterprises and nuclear power project owners that are eligible for tax exemption may file applications with the competent customs to waive the exemption from import value-added tax (VAT) and merely enjoy the exemption from import tariffs. In case such enterprises and nuclear power project owners voluntarily waive the exemption from import VAT, they will not be allowed to apply again for an exemption from import VAT within 36 months thereafter.