Revising the Rules

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Revising the Rules

Changes in e-commerce tax code will impact consumers and industry By Wang Jun

A local resident selects products at a cross-border purchasing center in Tianjin on November 29，2015.The city was selected for cross-border e-commerce trials last year

A new set of tax rules went into effect on cross-border e-commerce retail sales on April 8 that experts say will increase the cost of goods purchased overseas that are in high demand，such as food，health care and baby products.

The parcel tax，which was imposed on retail purchased online and typically stood at 10 percent，was removed under the new regulations.In its place are consumption and value-added taxes that come with a 30-percent discount，according to a joint announcement made on March 24 by the Ministry of Finance （MOF），the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration of Taxation.

The new rules also regulate how much consumers can spend online on a given day.Consumers can spend no more than 2，000 yuan （$309.12） on a single transaction and no more than 20，000 yuan （$2，091.19） in a year when purchasing imported products.Tariffs and additional taxes will be levied on any transactions exceeding these amounts.

The new rules are expected to raise the costs of most products with the tax rate for food，baby products and other consumer goods going from almost zero to 11.9 percent，said Mo Daiqing，Director of Online Retail Department of China E-Commerce Research Center，in an interview with China Industrial Economy News.

The change in costs are expected to alter consumer behavior now that the total taxes for some low-priced products will increase while taxes on luxury goods could decline，Guo Fanli，a research director with Shenzhen-based industrial research company CIConsulting，told China Industrial Economy News.

For instance if a product is priced lower than 500 yuan （$77），its taxes will be higher than before，which will likely cause the company to raise prices.Cross-border ecommerce frms will also import more highpriced products.

“Although cross-border e-commercefirms will lose some tax advantages and have higher costs，they still have some advantages over traditional importing channels.In the mid- and long-term，the cross-border e-commerce business will still be promising，” said Zhang Zhouping，head of the cross-border e-commerce department at the China E-Commerce Research Center.

Fairer competition

The rules aim to address an imbalance in competition created over the past two years after the government wrote favorable policies to develop the business-tocustomer （B2C） model on cross-border e-commerce platforms.The difference between the low parcel tax on cross-border ecommerce transactions and the tariffs and other taxes imposed on general imports created unfair competition，government offcials said.

However，it is unlikely the government will provide permanent favorable tax policies for cross-border e-commerce as it also has to consider the balance between crossborder e-commerce and traditional general trade.The new tax rules will be conducive in supporting fair competition between emerging and traditional businesses and between foreign and Chinese products，in addition to improving market efficiency，according to a March 24 press release from the Trade Department of the MOF.

The rules are expected to make China's tax policies and law enforcement more uniform，reduce tax revenue losses，narrow the price gap between online and offine imported goods，protect the interests of traditional importing and sales channels and alleviate the unfavorable impact previous policies had on the offine retail industry，according to Cao Lei，head of the China E-Commerce Research Center.

“The new tax rules will also better regulate the fast-growing cross-border e-commerce business，and improve the custom-clearance effciency，logistics effciency，product quality and user experience of crossborder e-commerce imports，” she said.

Shifts in the industry

Higher tax rates mark an end of the era of low industrial access for the cross-border e-commerce industry，and usher in a new round of industrial reorganization.

Tax to Pay for Overseas Online Purchases

Analyst Zhang said the focus of the new tax rules is to boost the real economy by cross-border e-commerce exports and promote just the business-to-business （B2B） model of cross-border e-commerce rather than all models.In the meantime，the B2C model of importing consumer goods in postal channels will be restricted.

Tan Naixun，a senior analyst with Beijingbased Internet consultancy Analysys International，said the new tax rules will increase price costs for cross-border ecommerce frms，which will start a new price war that will be unfavorable for small and medium-sized cross-border importers.

Tmall，China's major e-commerce site under the Alibaba Group，announced that for the time being it will not shift the rise in costs to its consumers，meaning Tmall will assume the increased costs.However，Tan warned that it will be diffcult for small and medium-sized cross-border e-commerce websites to take on those cost increases if they don't have adequate capital or if their suppliers don't have adequate bargaining power.

E-commerce firms completely relying on bonded warehouse for imports will face many challenges，said Zeng Bibo，CEO of cross-border e-commerce marketplace Ymatou.com.If these firms cannot make adjustments immediately，they are likely to face further business pressures and those relying excessively on capital will likely go under.

Lin Zhiyong，Executive President of Guangzhou Airport Investment Co.Ltd.，agreed that the new tax rules will significantly change the cross-border e-commerce business.The parcel tax brought in considerable profits to crossborder e-commerce firms.However，such price advantages will no longer exist under the new regulations，and 90 percent of small and medium-sized cross-border ecommerce frms are expected to go under.

The changing policies，which will help provide a better environment for larger platforms，are good news for major e-commerce companies like JD.com and VIP.com，Guo said.

Copyedited by Jordyn Dahl

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