Premier Li Keqiang chaired a State Council executive meeting on November 20, 2019 to hear a report about the reform on individual income tax, introduce preferential tax measures to reduce taxpayers' burden, and passed the Law of the People's Republic of China on Urban Maintenance and Construction Tax (Draft).
The meeting decided to further lower the tax burden on low- and medium-income groups. It passed a temporary decision to exempt those whose aggregate annual income is no higher than 120,000 yuan within a period of two years from the obligation to declare the settlement and payment of individual income taxes.
In order to promote development of the shipping industry and meet the rapidly growing demand for seafood in the domestic market, the meeting decided that taxable income will be reduced by 50 percent for seamen who are at sea more than 183 days a year, from January 2019 through the end of 2023.