7 Moon 1 Today, the comprehensive reform of the resource tax will be rolled out nationwide. Sun Ruibiao, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Taxation, recently stated that multiple preparatory tasks for the comprehensive resource tax reform are currently underway at a brisk pace. In line with the basic principle of shifting taxes and fees without altering their overall burden, the reform will generally not increase the tax and fee burden on enterprises.

　　Sun Ruibiao introduced that, as... “ Business Tax to Value-Added Tax Transition ” The second tax reform task for this year, as deployed by the State Council, is the resource tax reform, which carries great significance and far-reaching implications. Moving forward, the State Administration of Taxation, together with the Ministry of Finance, will carry out the approval and filing of tax items and rates, provide guidance to localities on rate calculations and preparatory work for tax collection and administration, and ensure the smooth implementation of the comprehensive resource tax reform.

　　Regarding the question of whether the tax and fee burden on resource-sector enterprises will increase following the reform, Sun Ruibiao clearly stated that, in accordance with the fundamental principle of tax and fee transition, the State Council has determined the range of tax rates for this reform. The determination of tax rates must take into account the actual operating conditions and affordability of enterprises, reasonably define the tax base and tax rate levels for resource taxes, enhance tax flexibility, and, overall, avoid increasing the tax and fee burden on enterprises. As a result, after the reform, the burden on most enterprises will actually be reduced.

　　Sun Ruibiao stated that, due to the sustained decline in resource product prices over the past few years, if the tax burden level of the past year were simply carried forward, the upper limit of the prescribed tax rate range would be relatively high, potentially increasing the burden on enterprises. Therefore, the tax rate ranges specified in the “Table of Tax Items and Rate Ranges for Resource Tax” are based on actual measurements conducted in various regions. 2012 year to 2014 The annual resource tax and fee burden rate serves as the basis for determination. On this basis, to support the current development of the mining industry and taking into account the broader need to stabilize economic growth, we have also appropriately lowered the upper limits of tax rates for most mineral types and introduced additional tax incentives, ensuring that the overall tax burden on mining enterprises will not increase. However, for certain strategic minerals such as graphite, we have appropriately raised the upper limits of their tax rates in order to protect the extraction of these resources. As a result, after the reform, the tax rate brackets for most enterprises will be reduced to some extent.

　　 “ Building a value-based taxation mechanism across the board is the core of this reform. Linking resource taxes directly to market prices, which reflect the supply-and-demand relationship of resources, will help establish an effective, automatic tax adjustment mechanism. Therefore, in principle, all resource products should be taxed on the basis of their value. However, given that it is extremely difficult to determine tax prices for a very small number of resource types—such as clay and sand and gravel—we will continue to apply a fixed-amount, volume-based taxation approach for these resources. At the same time, we must also implement the related reforms aimed at abolishing fees and establishing taxes. ” Sun Ruibiao said.

　　Regarding the transition from water resource fees to a tax, Cai Zili, Director of the Property and Behavioral Tax Department of the State Administration of Taxation, stated that to ensure the smooth introduction of the water resource tax in Hebei Province, the reform will be carried out by converting water resource fees into a tax. This conversion from fees to a tax will not increase the burden of water usage for ordinary residents or for general enterprises; therefore, it will have no impact on the normal water consumption of Hebei’s residents.