Recently, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation have jointly issued the Circular on Tax Policy for High-tech Business Incubators (the "Circular").
According to the Circular, from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2018, the real property and land for self-use by incubators and those provided to startup companies for use for free or via lease shall be exempted from housing tax and urban land use tax; from January 1, 2016 to April 30, 2016, the income derived from the lease of sites and houses to startup companies and from incubation services shall be exempted from business tax; the income derived from the lease of sites and houses to startup companies and from incubation services shall be exempted from value-added tax during the pilot collection of value-added tax in lieu of business tax.