December 2019 / China

Six authorities, including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security recently released the Overall Plan for Optimizing the System of Employment Security Funds for the Disabled and Promoting the Employment of Disabled People. According to the plan, if the proportion of disabled workers at an employer is 1% or higher but still less than the percentage set by the provincial or municipal government, the employer shall pay 50% of the employment security funds in the next three years it's supposed to pay; if the proportion of disabled workers is less than 1%, it should pay 90% of the funds in the next three years; if an employer has a total workforce of 30 or below, it will not have to pay the employment security funds for the disabled.

The State Taxation Administration released on December 31, 2019 the Announcement about Final Settlement and Payment of Individual Income Tax on Comprehensive Income in 2019.   The first article explained the concept and content of the annual settlement and payment of individual income tax. According to the second article, taxpayers will not have to make the annual tax settlement and payment as long as their annual income is no more than 120,000 yuan; if taxpayers' additional tax payment is no more than 400 yuan, they will not have to make the annual tax settlement and payment. According to the fifth article, the tax settlement and payment for 2019 should be handled from March 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020. If taxpayers have no permanent residence in China and plan to leave the country before March 1, 2020, they can make tax arrangement before departure.

The State Council recently released the Approval of Establishing Pilot Cross-border E-commerce Zones in 24 Cities. Preferential tax policies will be introduced for retail and exported goods, including exemptions on value-added tax and consumption tax.   Details about how to establish and operate these cross-border e-commerce zones will be worked out by provincial governments. Relevant departments are mandated to develop and optimize information management systems and provide electronic information to regulatory authorities, submit work plans and experiences to the Ministry of Commerce, and strive to make new progress and breakthrough in developing the cross-border e-commerce market and building a sound framework to sustain the market development.

The People's Bank of China recently released the Measures for the Registration of the Pledge of Accounts Receivable, to be implemented from January 1, 2020.   There are some prominent revisions: in the chapter of supplementary rules, some articles are added to regulate the registration of guaranteed transactions on other movable properties and rights; scrapping the requirement that registration agreement must be uploaded to increase registration efficiency; shorten the time limit for initial registration and extended registration to one month; add clauses to stipulate the responsibilities and duties of financing parties in a legal dispute; and revise or add clauses about the name of creditors and pledge borrowers, cancellation registration, revocation registration and the right to interpret the articles.