The State Administration of Taxation clarified that there is no arrangement for "30 years of retrospective investigation", and why did the "tide of tax payment" of listed companies start

CBN

2024-06-18 22:52Posted on the official account of Shanghai Yicai

The "tax payment turmoil" of listed companies ushered in an authoritative voice.

On June 18, the State Administration of Taxation said: "The tax department has not organized a national, industry-wide, and centralized tax inspection, let alone arranged for a 20-year or 30-year retrospective inspection." Recently, some of the tax arrears of enterprises in previous years are reminded of the tax arrears in previous years according to the procedures, and some of the risks of the application of tax policies existing in the enterprises are reminded and notified according to the procedures, all of which are routine normal performance of duties by the tax department in accordance with laws and regulations. ”

Recently, a number of A-share listed companies have encountered "tax back", some of them are facing a huge tax of nearly 500 million yuan, and some have to pay up to 15 years of tax arrears.

VV Co., Ltd. and Bohui Co., Ltd. announced the tax situation of the company or its subsidiaries. Among them, Hubei Zhijiang Liquor Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhijiang Liquor"), the former holding subsidiary of VV Group, was recovered for a total of RMB 85 million in tax arrears in the 15 years from 1994 to 2009. Bohui Co., Ltd. stopped production of aromatic hydrocarbon extraction devices, etc., after the company received a notice of tax matters, and the company's "heavy aromatic derivatives" were required to pay consumption tax according to "heavy aromatics".

According to incomplete statistics, since the beginning of this year, there have been Shunhao shares, Peking University Pharmaceutical, Zangge Mining, Hualin Securities, Lianjian Optoelectronics, etc. The reasons for the above-mentioned companies to pay back taxes include policy changes, undercalculation of taxes, failure to file as required, etc. For a time, there were discussions about whether A-share companies are facing a wave of tax payments, and whether the tax of listed companies should be "checked for 30 years".

Liu Xiangdong, deputy director of the macroeconomic research department of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, told Yicai that from the case point, the reasons for the company's tax payment are different, which is related to the change of tax policy and the deviation of the understanding and implementation, but in the process of implementing the tax law in various places, it is necessary to analyze specific problems in detail, and it is not possible to summarize the universal and sporty "tax payment" from individual cases. Zhang Yiqun, vice chairman of China's special committee on fiscal budget performance, told reporters that with the adjustment of domestic industrial structure and high-quality development, tax collection and management has also entered a stage of high-quality and efficient development, and the ability to collect and manage corporate taxes has also been more standardized than before.

There is no backcheck, which is a "routine performance of duties"

Recently, after the fermentation of the "tax payment" of listed companies, the tax departments in many places responded.

For example, the local authorities in Yichang, Hubei Province, responded that the tax department recovered the money in accordance with the procedures and there was no suspicion of "reverse investigation". A person from the board of directors of an enterprise in Hubei Province also told Yicai that the company had not received a notice of tax payment and was not clear about the relevant situation. In addition, a number of listed companies registered in Ningbo and Yichang also said that they had not received tax payment notices.

However, listed companies have announced tax payments one after another, where does the "tax payment tide" come from? What is the current progress of the tax payment of relevant listed companies?

Bohui Co., Ltd. issued an announcement on the evening of June 13, saying that the company would suspend production of relevant production equipment and supporting devices from the 12th of that month. At the same time, the company will take various measures to reduce costs, including but not limited to gradually arranging employee holidays, salary cuts, layoffs, etc. As soon as the news came out, it immediately attracted attention from all walks of life.

On June 14, the website of the Ningbo Taxation Bureau of the State Administration of Taxation announced that according to the tax risk screening, the bureau found that Ningbo Bohui Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. had the risk of underpaying consumption tax, and after comprehensive research and judgment, it delivered a risk reminder to the enterprise on November 6, 2023, and carried out tax counseling and interviews for many times.

The Ningbo Taxation Bureau also said that in the case that enterprises did not actively cooperate with the elimination of tax-related risks, the bureau issued a Notice of Tax Matters to them on March 27, 2024 in accordance with relevant policies and regulations, requiring enterprises to pay taxes on relevant taxable products in accordance with laws and regulations. So far, the company has not paid.

The Ningbo Taxation Bureau said that the next step will be to further strengthen communication with enterprises, continue to strive for the cooperation of enterprises, do a good job in policy guidance, and deal with it in accordance with laws and regulations.

The first financial reporter contacted the Ningbo Municipal Taxation Bureau on the 18th, and the staff said that there was further news (Bohui shares) that would be announced to the public. At the same time, the reporter contacted Bohui shares, but the phone could not be connected as of press time.

VV subsidiary's payment of taxes 30 years ago makes the rumors of "30 years of tax backsearch" of listed companies look more "credible", and further raises concerns in the industry.

Previously, VV announced on the evening of June 12 that according to the Notice of Tax Matters, as of June 4 this year, its subsidiary Zhijiang Liquor had failed to file a tax declaration for the consumption tax from January 1, 1994 to October 31, 2009 within the prescribed declaration period, and should pay 85,002,900 yuan.

In response, the local authorities in Yichang, Hubei Province responded that the tax department issued a notice on tax matters because the audit department found that Zhijiang Liquor had tax arrears many years ago during the routine audit. Accordingly, the tax department will recover the money in accordance with the procedures, and there is no suspicion of "reverse investigation".

A Yichang listed company told reporters that the company does not need to pay taxes and has not received relevant notices.

On June 18, the State Administration of Taxation's response was "final". According to reports, the tax department has not organized and carried out national, industry-wide, centralized tax inspections, let alone 20 or 30 years of arrangements.

Why do you owe taxes, and why do you pay taxes?

Yang Zhaoquan, director of Beijing Weinuo Law Firm, told Yicai that the tax department will generally review the relevant tax laws and regulations and the financial statements and tax declaration records of the enterprise, and if it is found that the enterprise has omitted or underreported the tax, the enterprise will be required to make supplementary payments and may impose corresponding fines.

"The phenomenon of tax evasion and tax avoidance exists to a certain extent, but this does not mean that all enterprises have such problems. With the strengthening of tax supervision and the emphasis on tax compliance by enterprises, this phenomenon is gradually decreasing. Another lawyer told reporters.

Liu Xiangdong said that in various periods, enterprises may face the problem of tax omission in audit or self-examination, and enterprises should pay tax omissions in accordance with the requirements of the tax law in a timely manner to avoid falling into the illegal act of tax evasion.

In Zhang Yiqun's view, if an enterprise does have tax arrears due to various reasons in previous years, it should pay back taxes in accordance with the provisions of the tax law, and if there are no special provisions, those who owe taxes, evade taxes, and evade taxes should also pay late fees and impose necessary fines. However, it should also be noted that there are still some problems such as inaccurate and undetailed system regulations, unclear and unclear situations, and non-standard and unified policy implementation, which objectively cause enterprises to have tax evasion problems, which need to be dealt with concretely.

He believes that if there are tax evasion and tax arrears caused by some enterprises and tax authorities' inconsistent understanding of tax policies and adjustments to tax policies, they need to be resolved through reasonable consultation and policy improvement on the premise of paying taxes in accordance with the law.

(This article is from Yicai)