31 Animal Husbandry Tax

TAX REFORM

TAX PROVISIONS WHILE IN FORCE

This tax is levied on income from animal husbandry.

Animal Husbandry Tax is administered and collected by the local financial departments and the local tax bureaus. The revenue collected belongs to the local governments.

Usually, a local surtax is charged together with Animal Husbandry Tax.

TAX REFORM

Before 2001, the tax was levied in Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang. Since the countryside tax and fee reform experiments began in 2000, every locality has been gradually lowering the tax burden in accordance with rules and objectives set out by the Chinese Communist Party Committee (CCPC) and the State Council.

After approval was granted at the Third Meeting of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) in March 2005, all localities nationwide ceased levying the tax as of 2005.

TAX PROVISIONS WHILE IN FORCE

Taxpayers

Where any entities, including units and individuals, fall into any of the following categories, they may be subject to tax:

• They are engaged in animal husbandry production.
• They generate earnings from animal husbandry industries in pastoral areas, semi-farm areas, or semi-pastoral areas.

Tax Base and Scope

The tax covers the raising of animals such as horses, oxen, sheep, and camels.

The tax base varies depending on the nature of the income earned, and the nature of the industries from which the income is generated. It can be taken as either of the following:

• The total income earned by the taxpayers from animal husbandry industries.
• The number of heads of livestock raised by the taxpayers.

In assessing the appropriate tax burden to impose, the tax authorities should keep the levels slightly below those imposed for Agriculture Tax.

Tax Rates and Tax per Unit

Tax payable may be calculated in either of the following ways, depending on the tax base:

• Based on value, using a flat rate.
• Based on quantity, using fixed tax amounts per unit.

Reductions and Exemptions

Exemptions may be granted for the following animals:

• Young livestock, fine-breed female livestock, farm animals, draught animals.
• Animals used by science and research units or education units for testing.
• Livestock raised by schools for the students' meals or subsidies.
• Livestock raised by the family members of revolutionary martyrs, by disabled persons, or by households that enjoy the five guarantees.

Appropriate reductions or exemptions may granted to the following taxpayers:

• Those living in remote areas or areas with harsh climates.
• Those losing animals because of natural disasters, such as typhoons or blizzards.
• Farmers or herdsmen having difficulties with their lives or production.

Payment Procedures and Policies

No nationwide policy has been imposed because of the vastness of China's pastoral areas and the huge variations in animal husbandry development.

Instead, each locality should formulate its own tax collection methods, as long as these methods are in line with relevant State Council rules.

Local Surtax

Every locality may charge local surtax together with Animal Husbandry Tax, at either a flat rate or at a certain percentage of the tax.