The "Work Guidelines" stipulate that before the end of 2007, the areas inside and outside the National High-tech Industrial Development Zone (including the Beijing New Technology Industry Development Pilot Zone) that have been identified according to the original identification method are still High-tech enterprise qualifications within the validity period are still valid, but they can enjoy preferential corporate income tax policies in accordance with relevant provisions such as the Enterprise Income Tax Law of the People's Republic of China and its Implementation Regulations after being re-certified in accordance with the "Recognition Methods" and "Work Guidelines". Enterprises can also apply for re-certification after the qualification expires, but only the 25% tax rate can be applied during the re-certification period.
According to the "Notice of the State Council on Implementing Transitional Preferential Policies for Enterprise Income Tax" (Guofa [2007] No. 39), starting from January 1, 2008, 2007 Enterprises registered and established by industrial and commercial registration authorities before March 16, and enterprises that originally enjoyed regular tax reduction and exemption preferential policies such as "two years of exemption and three years of half reduction" and "five years of exemption and five years of half reduction" can enjoy transitional preferential policies, that is, Continue to enjoy the preferential methods and years specified in the original tax laws, administrative regulations and relevant documents until the expiration of the period, but if you have not yet enjoyed the tax preferential treatment because you have not made a profit, the preferential period will be calculated from 2008.
For example, if an enterprise established in the Beijing New Technology Industry Development Pilot Zone in 2006 had obtained the qualification of a high-tech enterprise by the end of 2007, and the qualification was It is always valid during the transition period. There are currently two views on whether an enterprise needs to be re-certified during the transition period in order to continue to enjoy the transitional preferential treatment:
One view is that the enterprise’s high-tech qualifications are subject to transitional Valid during the period, Guofa [2007] No. 39 stipulates that the enterprise can enjoy tax benefits until the expiration of the transition period and does not need to be re-identified. If an enterprise fails to re-obtain high-tech qualification after the expiration of the original new-tech enterprise qualification, the enterprise shall be subject to a corporate income tax rate of 25% even during the transition period.
Another view is that even if the enterprise is still in the tax reduction period mentioned in Document No. 39 during the transition period and is also within the validity period of the original high-tech enterprise qualification, it should be re-certified in time before it can continue to enjoy the benefits of Document No. 39. The so-called tax reduction and exemption preferential policies.
The author is more inclined to the second point of view. The various indicators during the enterprise's transition period meet the standards stipulated in the "Recognition Measures" On the premise of continuing to enjoy the preferential policies during the transition period, the preface of the "Work Guidelines" also emphasizes that "the qualifications of high-tech enterprises within and outside the National High-tech Industrial Development Zone that were recognized according to the original recognition method before the end of 2007 and are still valid are still valid. , but only after re-certification in accordance with the "Recognition Methods" and "Work Guidelines" can you enjoy preferential corporate income tax policies in accordance with the "Enterprise Income Tax Law of the People's Republic of China" and its implementation regulations and other relevant regulations. "How enterprises can correctly understand and operate requires clarification from relevant documents of the General Administration.
In addition, Guofa [2007] No. 40 Regulations, January 1, 2008 ( Including) high-tech enterprises that need key support from the state after completing registration in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, Xiamen and Hainan Special Economic Zones and Shanghai Pudong New Area, the income obtained in the special economic zones and Shanghai Pudong New Area shall be counted from the first production Starting from the tax year in which business income belongs, you can enjoy the preferential tax rate policy of "two exemptions and three half reductions" (half of 25%).
The current problem is , since the "Measures" stipulate that high-tech enterprises are resident enterprises registered in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) for more than one year. Therefore, if the enterprise obtains its first income in 2008, since its establishment is less than one year old, In 2008, it could not be recognized as a high-tech enterprise. If it was recognized as a high-tech enterprise in 2009, the enterprise could only enjoy the tax exemption policy in the last year of 2009.
According to statistics from the State Intellectual Property Office in 2006, 99% of enterprises in China have not applied for intellectual property rights, and only 0.17% of enterprises that have applied for intellectual property rights have invention patents. Therefore, many enterprises in China currently do not possess core independent intellectual property rights. The Measures stipulate that if an enterprise obtains an exclusive license for intellectual property rights by signing a contract with others for more than five years to exclusively monopolize the license rights globally, it can meet the conditions required for recognition. It is worth noting that because the core technology that represents the core competitiveness of the enterprise and invention patents are almost monopolized by foreign companies. It is currently difficult for applicants to obtain exclusive licensing rights on a global scale. Some companies that have previously been sidelined will lose their qualifications as high-tech enterprises.
It should be noted that the enterprise has independent intellectual property rights, so it can obtain copyright or copyright certificateshall prevail. Moreover, the "last three years" refers to the intellectual property rights used in the three consecutive years before the year of application (excluding the year of application). That is, the corporate intellectual property rights applied for in 2008 must have been obtained in 2007, 2006, 2005, and 2008. Certificates obtained are not counted and will only be counted when the application is made in 2009.
The "Recognition Methods" and "Work Guidelines" define and enumerate the scope of eligible research and development expenses. Enterprises should collect R&D expenses in accordance with the provisions of Caiqi [2007] No. 194 "Several Opinions on Strengthening the Financial Management of R&D Expenses by Enterprises", and at the same time, do a good job in R&D expenses in accordance with the rigid indicators of R&D expenses determined in the methods and guidelines. Budgeting and planning. Specifically, we should focus on the following four indicators:
1. The ratio of total research and development expenses to total sales revenue in the past three fiscal years meets the following requirements:
A. For enterprises whose sales revenue in the last year is less than 50 million yuan, the proportion is not less than 6%;
B. For enterprises with sales revenue of 50 million yuan to 200 million yuan in the last year, the proportion is not less than 4%;
C. Sales revenue in the last year is 20,000 yuan For enterprises with more than 10,000 yuan, the proportion shall not be less than 3%.
2. The total research and development expenses incurred by the enterprise in China shall account for no less than 60% of the total research and development expenses.
3. Only 80% of the external research and development expenses entrusted by the enterprise will be recognized. The expenses incurred by entrusting external R&D include expenses incurred by entrusting domestic institutions and overseas institutions. Enterprises should note that only 80% of the amount incurred is recognized. At the same time, the project results must be owned by the enterprise and closely related to the enterprise's main business (can be through the agreement signed between the entrusting party and the trustee and the enterprise's high-tech products or technologies). service to determine).
4. Other expenses incurred by the enterprise in R&D activities, such as office expenses, travel expenses, communication expenses, patent application and maintenance fees, high-tech R&D insurance premiums, etc., the actual This refers to the indirect costs incurred during the R&D process. Generally, it shall not exceed 10% of the total research and development expenses.
According to the above regulations, it is necessary for enterprises to establish a complete accounting system or improve the existing accounting system so that they can accurately record and analyze R&D by project and type. Expenses are collected to comply with the Measures and "Work Guidelines"requirements. In addition, it is best to set up a separate account for the collection of R&D expenses in the future to facilitate future audits.
