Chongqing- "The port of shipment tax rebate is an innovative tax reform policy replicated and promoted by the Chongqing Pilot Free Trade Zone," said Hu Song, deputy director of the Chongqing Port Customs under Chongqing Customs District.

The China (Chongqing) Pilot Free Trade Zone (CFTZ) has celebrated its 5th anniversary on April 1st, and it has become an important platform for Chongqing's opening up to the rest of the world, providing an important boost for the city to build itself into a pioneer of opening up in inland China.

Innovative tax rebate policy

This March, the Liangjiang New Area Taxation Administration handled export tax rebates of 25,241.76 yuan (approx. 3966.90 U.S. dollars) for 400 sets of gasoline engines produced by Briggs & Stratton (Chongqing) Engine Co., Ltd.

This was the first "port of shipment tax rebate" in Chongqing.

The tax rebate policy for ports of shipment is a measure to speed up the export tax rebate, which helps enterprises to get the tax rebate as soon as possible.

In the past, enterprises had to transport the goods to the port of departure and manage customs clearance procedures before they could apply for a tax rebate.

While nowadays, enterprises are deemed to be exported and solicit tax rebates after the release procedures at the port of departure through the tax rebate policy for ports of shipment.

According to Li Hong, financial chief of Briggs & Stratton (Chongqing) Engine Co., Ltd., in the past, it took about two months to apply for a tax rebate after the goods departed from Shanghai Yangshan Bonded Port, while now it only took half a month.

"The capital turnover has accelerated apparently, and companies are more confident in expanding overseas markets," said Li.

Get on and off at the transit port

Such convenience does not come easily. In 2018, Chongqing Guoyuan Port was included in the scope of application of the national port of departure tax rebate policy.

However, the Guoyuan Port at that time was unable to implement this policy due to its functional and other reasons.

During the investigation, Chongqing found that many companies had "little interest" in this model because the policy at the time did not allow companies to get on and off goods at transit ports.

To this end, Chongqing Customs organized the demands of enterprises into materials and then reported to the General Administration of Customs, which in turn coordinated with the Ministry of Finance, the State Taxation Administration, and other ministries.

Several national ministries and commissions have then adjusted the policy and added the regulations, where goods can be loaded and unloaded when stopping at the port during transportation.

Drive the export of surrounding cities

In 2021, the Chongqing Municipal Finance Bureau, Chongqing Customs District, and the Chongqing Municipal Taxation Bureau issued policies to clarify the specific scope and process of implementing the tax rebate policy for the port of shipment in Chongqing.

At the end of the same year, with the transfer of the foreign trade business in Chongqing's water transportation to Guoyuan Port, Guoyuan Port officially met all the conditions for implementing the tax rebate policy for ports of shipment, and the relevant declaration process also began.

After the implementation of the "port of shipment tax rebate" in Chongqing, it has improved the capital turnover and utilization efficiency of enterprises, shortened the capital occupation period and brought a better development environment for foreign trade exports.

At the same time, with the help of this policy, Chongqing drives the supply of goods from surrounding cities to gather in Chongqing's port and improves the increasing radiation driving force of Chongqing's opening up.

Data also shows that as of December 2021, the overall customs clearance time of Chongqing imports and exports have been reduced by 73.85% and 96.13%, respectively, compared with 2017, exceeding the State Council's goal of reducing the overall customs clearance time by half by the end of 2021.

(Wang Lu, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)