Recently, the State Taxation Administration ("STA") and the Ministry of Transport ("MOT") have jointly distributed the Announcement on Matters Concerning Exemption from Vehicle Purchase Tax on Public Buses and Electric Buses Purchased by Urban Public Bus Enterprises (the "Announcement") which will take effect from July 1, 2019.
The Announcement expressly states that the List of Urban Public Transport Authorities and Urban Public Bus Enterprises will be cited by tax authorities as the basis for determining whether the applicants are qualified to be the urban public bus enterprises, adding that the department (commission) of transport of each province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government will take charge of arranging for the formulation of such list for the local administrative region. Also, the Announcement states that tax authorities will process formalities for vehicle purchase tax exemption claimed by urban public bus enterprises on the said list for the new buses and electric buses they purchase for public transport, according to the Form of Certification of Public Buses and Electric Buses and other materials necessary for vehicle purchase tax filing. Moreover, the Announcement requires that where conditions for tax exemption are no longer satisfied because the vehicles are transferred or used for other purposes, after urban public bus enterprises have completed formalities for tax exemption for the new public buses and electric buses they purchase, taxpayers shall once again go through tax filing formalities with tax authorities.