Recently, the General Administration of Customs ("GAC") has issued the Announcement [2017] No.58, deciding to promote the paperless applications for tax reduction and exemption in nationwide customs offices and simultaneously abolish the record-filing regime for tax reduction and exemption, as of December 15, 2017.
The announcement states that a tax reduction or exemption applicant or its agent may submit the application form for this purpose together with the electronic data about the accompanying documents through the tax reduction or exemption declaration system for QP pre-entry clients of China electronic ports, instead of submitting any written materials. Meanwhile, it is made clear in the announcement that the applicant may provide materials concerning the subject qualification, project qualification, quota (quantity) of tax-free imports and other information to the customs at the same time when it initially handles formalities for tax reliefs for imported goods, but does not need to file a record for a policy-oriented project with the customs in advance.