China's government extended a pilot value-added tax reform programme nation-wide on Wednesday that would help cut taxes by 120 billion yuan ($19 billion) in 2013. In a meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, the State Council, or cabinet, decided to expand a tax pilot nation-wide and to include the broadcasting industry, effective August 1.
The pilot, which started early last year in Shanghai and aimed to reduce the tax burden for companies, initially covered transportation and some services sectors to replace a business tax. In a second-phase, the tax was expanded to 10 other cities and provinces including Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, from August 2012.
The cabinet said in a statement on its website that tax would eventually be imposed on the railway, postal and telecommunication industries. www.gov.cn The government said it intends to complete the value-added tax reform by the end of 2015 to revitalise the corporate sector, increase employment and household incomes, and create a new driver of growth for the world's second biggest economy.