Q: Our company has just passed the audit this year, with an annual income of more than 200 million yuan, and enjoys the preferential income tax rate for high-tech enterprises. Is it necessary to meet the requirement that R&D expenses account for no less than 3% of income every year?
Article 9 of the Notice of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Finance and State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China on Printing and Distributing the Administrative Measures for the Identification of High-tech Enterprises (Guo Keguo Shui Fa [2008] 172) stipulates that after obtaining the qualification of high-tech enterprises, enterprises shall go through the formalities of tax reduction or exemption with the competent tax authorities in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 of these Measures.
High-tech enterprises enjoying preferential tax reduction and exemption shall report to the competent tax authorities within 15 days from the date of change if the conditions for tax reduction and exemption change; Those who no longer meet the conditions for tax reduction or exemption shall fulfill their tax obligations according to law; Those who fail to pay taxes according to law shall be recovered by the competent tax authorities. At the same time, the competent tax authorities in the process of implementing preferential tax policies, found that enterprises do not have the qualification of high-tech enterprises, should be submitted to the accreditation body for review. During the review period, the enterprise may be suspended from enjoying the preferential tax reduction and exemption.
Article 10 stipulates that the identification of high-tech enterprises shall meet the following conditions:
(4) Enterprises continue to carry out research and development activities in order to acquire new scientific and technological knowledge (except humanities and social sciences), creatively apply new scientific and technological knowledge, or substantially improve technology and products (services), and the proportion of total research and development expenses to total sales revenue in the last three fiscal years meets the following requirements:
3. The proportion of enterprises with sales income of more than 200 million yuan in the previous year shall not be less than 3%.
Item 25 of the annex/kloc-0 of State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China's Announcement on Issuing the Measures for Handling Preferential Policies for Enterprise Income Tax (State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China Announcement No.76)/Catalogue for the Record Management of Preferential Matters for Enterprise Income Tax (version 20 1 5) is clear:
1. High-tech enterprise qualification certificate;
2. Identification materials for high-tech enterprises;
3. Annual R&D expense special account management data;
4. High-tech products (services) and corresponding income data in the previous year;
5 annual research and development expenses of high-tech enterprises and their proportion in sales revenue, as well as the auxiliary account of research and development expenses;
6.R&D personnel roster;
7 other information provided by the provincial tax authorities.
According to the above provisions, within the validity period of the re-examination qualification, the annual research and development expenses and the proportion of sales revenue of the enterprise must meet the conditions of tax reduction and exemption.
2. How to define the total number of employees in the enterprise in that year?
Q: What are the requirements for the accreditation of high-tech enterprises? Scientific and technical personnel with college degree or above accounted for more than 30% of the total employees of the enterprise in that year, among which R&D personnel accounted for more than 10% of the total employees of the enterprise in that year? For one of them? Total number of employees in that year? How to define it? Does it only include the number of employees who sign labor contracts? Does it include temporary workers who have not signed a labor contract?
Article 10 of the Notice of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Finance and State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China on Printing and Distributing the Administrative Measures for the Identification of High-tech Enterprises (Guo Kefa [2008]172) stipulates that the identification of high-tech enterprises shall meet the following conditions:
(3) Scientific and technical personnel with college degree or above accounted for more than 30% of the total employees of the enterprise in that year, among which R&D personnel accounted for more than 10% of the total employees of the enterprise in that year;
According to the above regulations, a certain proportion of scientific and technical personnel in the total number of employees of enterprises is one of the conditions for taxpayers to declare high-tech enterprises, but there is no detailed provision on how to determine the total number of employees of enterprises. In practical work, you can refer to the provisions of the following documents:
The first paragraph of Article 3 of the Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises No.9 Employee Remuneration stipulates that the employees mentioned in these Standards refer to all employees who have entered into labor contracts with enterprises, including full-time, part-time and temporary employees, as well as employees who have not entered into labor contracts with enterprises but are formally employed by enterprises.
The Announcement of State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China on Several Issues Concerning the Tax Treatment of Taxable Income of Enterprise Income Tax clearly explains that the employment of seasonal workers, temporary workers, interns, retired workers and foreign laborers also belongs to the category of enterprise employees.
Notes on the targets indicated in the annex of Notice of Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, Beijing Municipal Finance Bureau, Beijing Municipal State Taxation Bureau and Beijing Municipal Local Taxation Bureau on Organizing Information Filing of High-tech Enterprises in 20 14 (J.K.F. [2065438+04] No.85);
Number of employees at the end of the reporting period: refers to the number of employees who worked in the unit at 24: 00 at the end of the reporting period and received wages or other forms of labor remuneration. This indicator is a time-point indicator, excluding those who terminated the labor contract relationship with the unit on or before the last day, and it is the sum of employees, labor dispatchers and other employees. Employees do not include:
1. Persons who leave the company and still retain their labor relations and receive living expenses regularly;
2. Students who work in their spare time and all kinds of students who practice in their own units;
3. Personnel employed by this unit due to labor outsourcing, such as those employed by the whole construction system;
4 regardless of whether the original unit still pays living expenses or subsidies, the soldiers are not included in the final number of employees;
5. This unit is officially retired, but it includes retirees who are re-employed by the unit after formal retirement.
According to the above regulations, temporary workers recruited by enterprises should be included in the total number of employees.
3. How to define sales revenue and total revenue?
Q: Article 10 of the Notice of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance and State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China of the People's Republic of China on Printing and Distributing the Administrative Measures for the Identification of High-tech Enterprises (Guo Keguo Fa [2008] 172) stipulates that the identification of high-tech enterprises must meet the following conditions at the same time: Does the total R&D expenditure account for the total sales revenue? Meet the requirements:? Does the income from high-tech products (services) account for the total income of the enterprise in that year? More than 60%. When was the high-tech enterprise recognized? Total sales revenue? 、? Total annual income? What caliber are they? Are they accounting income or income tax income?
Article 5 of the Notice of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Finance and State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China on Printing and Distributing the Management Guidelines for the Identification of High-tech Enterprises (Guo Ke Fa [2008] No.362) stipulates:
(3) Income from high-tech products (services)
Through technological innovation and R&D activities, enterprises form the sum of product (service) income and technical income that meet the requirements of key areas.
Technical income mainly includes the following parts:
1. Technology transfer income: refers to the income obtained by the technological innovation achievements of enterprises through technology trade and technology transfer;
2. Revenue from technical contracting: including revenue from design and implementation of technical projects;
3. Technical service income: refers to the income obtained by an enterprise from providing technical solutions, data processing, testing and analysis and other services to the society and users outside the enterprise by using its own manpower, material resources and data systems;
4. Entrust scientific research income: refers to the income obtained by enterprises undertaking research and development, pilot test and new product development entrusted by all sectors of society.
The attached application for the identification of high-tech enterprises stipulates that. Sales revenue? Refers to the sum of product income and technical service income.
Notes on Filling in the Annual Tax Return of Enterprise Income Tax in People's Republic of China (PRC) (Class A) attached to People's Republic of China (PRC) State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China Announcement (People's Republic of China (PRC) State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China Announcement No.63, 20 14 Edition);
A 10704 1 Remarks on "Preferences and Details of High-tech Enterprises", line 8? 2. Total income of the enterprise this year? Taxpayers' income from various sources in monetary and non-monetary forms this year is the total income stipulated in Article 6 of the Tax Law. Including: income from selling goods, income from providing labor services, income from transferring property, dividends and other equity investment income, interest income, rental income, royalties income, income from accepting donations and other income.
According to the above regulations, sales revenue is the sum of product revenue and technical service revenue, which is different from high-tech product (service) revenue. The total income of an enterprise in the current year is the total income stipulated in Article 6 of the Enterprise Income Tax Law, including income from selling commodities, providing labor services, transferring property, dividends, bonuses and other equity investment income, interest income, rental income, royalties income, income from accepting donations and other income.
4. Does the royalty belong to the R&D expenses of high-tech enterprises?
Q: In order to obtain the right to use the software and patents of overseas companies, an enterprise pays royalties to overseas companies. Can this expense be used as the R&D expense of high-tech enterprises to calculate the R&D expense rate of high-tech enterprises?
Article 2 of the Notice of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance and State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China of the People's Republic of China on Printing and Distributing the Administrative Measures for the Recognition of High-tech Enterprises (Guo Kefa [2008]172) stipulates that the term "high-tech enterprises" as mentioned in these Measures refers to the continuous research and development and transformation of technological achievements in the "high-tech fields supported by the state" (see annex) to form the core independent intellectual property rights of enterprises, and
Article 10 stipulates that the identification of high-tech enterprises shall meet the following conditions:
(4) Enterprises continue to carry out research and development activities in order to acquire new scientific and technological knowledge (except humanities and social sciences), creatively apply new scientific and technological knowledge, or substantially improve technology and products (services), and the proportion of total research and development expenses to total sales revenue in the last three fiscal years meets the following requirements:
Notice of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China on Printing and Distributing the Management Guidelines for the Identification of High-tech Enterprises (Guo Ke Zheng Fa [2008] No.362) Article 4 Provisions on the confirmation of research and development activities and the collection of research and development expenses:
(1) Confirmation of R&D activities
1. Definition of R&D activities
Continuous activities with clear objectives for acquiring new scientific and technological knowledge (excluding humanities and social sciences), creatively applying new scientific and technological knowledge, or substantially improving technology and products (services).
Creative application of new knowledge of science and technology, or substantial improvement of technology and products (services), means that enterprises have made valuable progress in innovation of technology and products (services), which has promoted the technological progress of related industries in the region (provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government or cities with separate plans), excluding the routine upgrading or direct application of a scientific research achievement by enterprises (such as direct adoption of new technologies, new materials and new devices). )
(2) Collection of R&D expenses
1. Accounting of enterprise R&D expenses
The enterprise shall set up an auxiliary accounting account for the special research and development expenses identified by high-tech enterprises according to the following sample table, provide relevant vouchers and detailed tables, and conduct accounting according to the requirements of this work guide.
2. Collection scope of various expense subjects
(6) Amortization of intangible assets
Amortization of expenses incurred by proprietary technology (including patented, non-patented inventions, licenses, proprietary technology, design and calculation methods, etc.). ) It needs to be purchased for R&D activities.
According to the above provisions, it should first be judged whether the software and patent rights of overseas companies obtained by enterprises are used for research and development activities in high-tech fields supported by the state (see annex). For research and development activities, the right to use the software and patents of overseas companies obtained by enterprises is recognized as intangible assets, and the corresponding amortization expenses are included in the research and development expenses. If it is not used for R&D activities, the royalties paid cannot be used as R&D expenses.
5. Can the income from physical examination of high-tech enterprises be subject to the preferential tax rate of 15%?
Q: Our company applied for high-tech enterprise from 20 1 1, and we have to pay 20 12 income tax during tax inspection. Can the check income be subject to the preferential tax rate of 15%?
Article 1 of the Announcement of State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China, People's Republic of China (PRC) on Approving the Increase of Taxable Income to Make Up for the Losses of Previous Years (State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China Announcement No.20,20 20 10/0) stipulates that according to Article 5 of the Enterprise Income Tax Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) (hereinafter referred to as the Enterprise Income Tax Law), the taxable income increased by the tax authorities when checking the tax payment of enterprises in previous years is the losses of enterprises in previous years, which belongs to the losses stipulated in the Enterprise Income Tax Law.
If there is still a balance after making up the losses, the enterprise income tax shall be calculated and paid in accordance with the provisions of the enterprise income tax law. The increased taxable income shall be dealt with or punished according to the relevant provisions of the Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) Municipality on the Administration of Tax Collection according to its circumstances.
Paragraph 2 of Article 28 of the Enterprise Income Tax Law stipulates that high-tech enterprises that need special support from the state shall be subject to enterprise income tax at a reduced rate of 15%.
Article 15 of the Notice of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China on Printing and Distributing the Administrative Measures for the Identification of High-tech Enterprises (No.72/KLOC-0 [2008] of the State Science and Technology Bureau) stipulates that an identified high-tech enterprise shall be disqualified in any of the following circumstances:
(a) providing false information in the process of applying for identification;
(two) tax fraud;
(three) the occurrence of major safety and quality accidents;
(four) there are environmental and other illegal acts, punished by the relevant departments.
According to the above provisions, if the enterprise is still a high-tech enterprise in the year when enterprise income tax should be paid, the tax rate of 15% should be applied. If the qualification of high-tech enterprises is cancelled due to tax evasion and other reasons, the enterprise income tax shall be paid at a reduced rate of 25%.
6. Does the tax rate of15% apply to dividends obtained abroad?
Q: Our company is a high-tech enterprise. Is the dividend income remitted by overseas subsidiaries subject to the preferential tax rate of 15%?
As stipulated in Article 1 of the Notice of the Ministry of Finance of People's Republic of China (PRC), State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China, on the Applicable Tax Rates and Tax Credits for Overseas Income of High-tech Enterprises (Caishui [201] No.47), high-tech enterprises that have applied for and been recognized for the indicators of total R&D expenses, total income and total sales income of high-tech products (services) related to all production and business activities at home and abroad, Its overseas income can enjoy the preferential policy of high-tech enterprise income tax, that is, its overseas income can pay enterprise income tax at the preferential tax rate of 15%, and when calculating the overseas credit limit, the total domestic and overseas tax payable can be calculated at the preferential tax rate of 15%.
According to the above regulations, the high-tech enterprises that your company has not applied for the identification of indicators such as total R&D expenses, total revenue, total sales revenue and high-tech products (services) related to all production and business activities at home and abroad only regard the investment income received by their subsidiaries as part of the total revenue, and the overseas investment income cannot enjoy the preferential tax rate of 15%, and the supplementary tax is calculated at the applicable tax rate of 25%.