财税字（1996）87号
（Approved by the State Council on September 18， 1996， promulgated¹ by the Ministry² of Finance and the State Taxation³ Administration on October 24， 1996）
颁布日期：19961024 　实施日期：19961024 　颁布单位：财政部、 国家税务总局

　　Article 1 These Procedures are formulated⁴ in accordance with the provisions of the “Income Tax Law of the People's Republic of China for Enterprises with Foreign Investment and Foreign Enterprises”， “Law of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Tax Collection” and the “Interim Regulations of the People's Republic of China for Sales Tax” with a view to strengthen the administration of tax collection on the transportation revenue accrued⁵ from China by foreign companies engaged in international shipping⁶ operations employing vessels⁷.

　　Article 2 Sales tax and enterprise income tax shall be paid by foreign companies from their transportation revenue and income by carrying and transporting passengers， goods and mail out of the country from Chinese ports employing vessels in accordance with these Procedures.

　　Article 3 A carrier that gains transportation revenue of a foreign company which carries and transports passengers， goods and mail out of the country from Chinese ports employing vessels shall be the taxpayer⁸. Taxpayers⁹ shall include：

　　（1） in the case of time charter by a buyer， the foreign ship chartering company shall be the taxpayer；

　　（2） in the case of voyage charter， the foreign ship owner shall be the taxpayer；

　　（3） a ship of foreign nationality chartered by China sub chartered to a foreign company in time charter， the foreign company shall be the taxpayer；

　　（4） a ship of Chinese nationality time chartered by a foreign company， the foreign company shall be the taxpayer；

　　（5） in the case of other ships of foreign nationalities， the ship company shall be the taxpayer.

　　Companies approved according to law to operate foreign ship agency business（hereinafter referred to as foreign ship agents） shall be the withholding¹¹ agents of the tax payable¹².

　　Article 4 The amount of tax payable by the taxpayer shall， in accordance with the total amount of revenue gained by the taxpayer each time it carries and transports passengers， goods or mail out of the country from a Chinese port， be calculated and taxed according to the aggregate¹³ rate of calculation and taxation of 4.65%， among which 3% is sales tax and enterprise income tax is 1.65%.

　　Article 5 The total amount of revenue referred to in Article 4 of these Procedures shall mean the aggregate of the revenue of passenger transportation and the revenue of shipping of goods each time a ship operated by the taxpayer carries and transports passengers， goods or mail starting from a Chinese port to its destination， and no charges or expenditures¹⁴ shall be deducted¹⁵ therefrom. The revenue of passenger transportation shall include the revenue of the ship tickets and excess baggage charges， charges for meals， insurance premiums¹⁶， service charges and entertainment fees etc. The revenue of shipping of goods shall include those of the basic shipping charges and other additional charges.

　　Article 6 A foreign company which carries and transports passengers， goods or mail out of the country from a Chinese port employing a ship shall notify its ship agent its shipping rate while informing the ship agent of the address of the carrier， the national flag the ship flies， the state of passenger transportation， the types and amount of goods carried and the expected time of arrival at the port.

　　Article 7 A foreign company which carries and transports passengers， goods or mail out of the country from a Chinese port employing a ship entrusts¹⁸ a foreign ship agent to calculate and withhold¹⁰ shipping charges， the foreign ship agent shall， upon receipt of the shipping charges， withhold the amount of tax payable directly from the total amount of revenue of the taxpayer in accordance with the aggregate rate of calculation and taxation as prescribed in Article 4 of these Procedures.

　　Article 8 A foreign company which carries and transports passengers， goods or mail out of the country from a Chinese port does not entrust¹⁷ a foreign ship agent to withhold shipping charges， the foreign ship agent shall calculate the estimated amount of tax according to the aggregate rate of calculation and taxation as prescribed in Article 4 of these Procedures and notify the taxpayer to remit¹⁹ the estimated amount of tax together with the reserve fund for port charges and the amount of tax shall be withheld²⁰ by the foreign ship agent.

　　Upon departure of a ship of a foreign company carrying and transporting passengers， goods or mail from the country， its foreign ship agent shall notify the taxpayer to report to the tax authorities its total amount of transportation revenue， the amount of tax payable enclosed with vouchers²¹ of shipping charge settlement， while inform the taxpayer telegraphically of the actual number of passengers and amount of goods or mail carried and transported by the ship. The taxpayer shall report to the tax authorities and pay the amount of tax within the time period not exceeding 60 days commencing from the date of departure of the ship from the port.

　　Article 9 Foreign ship agents shall withhold and collect tax payments as prescribed in Articles 7 and 8 of these Procedures and deposit the amount of tax payment actually collected in the State Treasury²² within ten days commencing from the date of withholding and collection， and submit to the tax authorities of the port where the agent is located summary of foreign ship agency business operations， statistical²³ report of shipping charge settlement， “tax declaration of foreign ship transportation revenue withheld and remitted²⁴ or collected and remitted” and other required information before the fifteenth of the following month.

　　Article 10 Where a taxpayer is unable to provide complete and precise information as prescribed in Articles 6 and 8 of these Procedures and to correctly calculate the total amount of revenue， the foreign ship agent shall report the case timely to the tax authorities of the port. The tax authorities of the port may， in conjunction with the foreign ship agent， verify and determine the total amount of revenue of the taxpayer with reference to the normal price of shipping passengers or goods in the world under same or similar circumstances or according to the shipping rate fixed²⁵ by the relevant department of China and collect the tax on those basis.

　　Article 11 A foreign company employing the same ship carrying and transporting passengers， goods or mail out of the country from a number of Chinese ports shall， in accordance with the transportation revenue from shipping passengers， goods or mail at those ports， separate taxation shall be paid at the ports of shipment. However， the same voyage chartered ship shipping goods or mail out of the country successively from a number of Chinese ports whose transportation revenue follows the contractual lump-sum method of calculation， taxation on the total transportation revenue shall be levied²⁶ at the first port of shipment of goods or mail； for ships adopting contractual lump sum shipping charge in addition to surcharge of additional ports， taxation on the contractual lump sum transportation revenue shall be levied at the first port of shipment of the goods or mail and taxation on revenue of surcharge of additional ports shall be levied at the port of shipment of the goods or mail separately.

　　Article 12 For a ship carrying and transporting passengers， goods or mail out of the country from a Chinese port for transit²⁷ shipment to its destination via another country or region， the sales tax shall be calculated and collected in accordance with the balance of the entire voyage shipping charge after deducting²⁸ the shipping charge paid to the successive carrier， the enterprise income tax shall be calculated and collected in accordance with the total amount of transportation revenue of the entire voyage according to the bills of lading.

　　Article 13 Where a foreign ship agent withholds²⁹ or collects tax in accordance with these Procedures， the tax authorities shall pay handling fees to the withholding agent for withholding or collecting tax in accordance with relevant provisions.

　　Article 14 For failure to fulfill³⁰ the obligations in compliance³¹ with these Procedures on the part of a taxpayer or a with holding agent， penalty shall be meted³² out in accordance with the provisions of the “Law of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Tax Collection” and the Rules for the Implementation³³ of this Law.

　　Article 15 The “Declaration Form of Transportation Revenue Tax Withheld and Remitted or Collected and Remitted” to be filled out and submitted by foreign ship agents shall be uniformly printed by the State Taxation Administration.

　　Article 16 For companies of Hongkong， Macao and Taiwan carrying and transporting passengers， goods or mail out of the country from ports in the country employing vessels， taxation on their transportation revenue and income shall be levied with reference to these Procedures， unless otherwise provided for.

　　Article 17 Tax reduction or tax exemption³⁴ shall be implemented³⁵ in accordance with the provisions of the relevant agreements concluded between the People's Republic of China and foreign countries.

　　The agreements referred to in the preceding paragraph shall mean the agreements on the avoidance of double taxation on income（and property） and on tax evasion³⁶， agreements on mutual³⁷ exemption of taxation on transport business revenue of shipping enterprises， shipping agreements as well as other relevant agreements or exchanges of letters.

　　Article 18 Foreign companies carrying and transporting passengers， goods or mail out of the country employing vessels from Chinese ports whose transportation revenue and income may enjoy tax reduction or tax exemption in accordance with the agreements as prescribed in Article 17 of these Procedures shall provide relevant information in compliance with the provisions of Article 6 of these Procedures. The tax authorities shall examine and verify the following certifications：

　　（1） for taxation on ship transportation revenue and income to be levied by the concluding country wherein the actual managing organization or the headquarters of the enterprise is located or for tax reduction or tax exemption by the revenue originating country on the revenue and income gained from operating international shipping business by resident companies of the other party of the concluding countries， such foreign companies shall provide certificates of the actual managing organizations or their headquarters or the resident companies of the place wherein they are located issued by the tax authorities of the concluding country of the relevant agreements；

　　（2） for tax reduction or tax exemption by the revenue originating country on transportation revenue and income gained by merchant ships flying the national flag of the other party of the concluding countries or by merchant ships flying the national flag of a third country operated by the shipping enterprise of the other party of the concluding countries of the relevant agreements， such foreign companies shall provide certificates issued by the department in charge of shipping of the other party of the concluding countries.

　　Those failing to provide relevant certificates shall not enjoy the treatment of tax reduction or tax exemption.

　　Article 19 These Procedures shall go into effect as of the date of promulgation³⁸. “Provisions for the Taxation of Transportation Revenue by Vessels of Foreign Nationalities” approved by the State Council and promulgated by the Ministry of Finance in June 1974 is annulled³⁹ as of the same date.