By Mark Schaub, Partner, Corporate, King & Wood Shanghai
See also: King & Wood‘s Tax Practice.
On February 20, 2010, the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) issued the “Measures for the Administration of Taxation on Representative Offices of Foreign Enterprises” (Guo Shui Fa [2010] No. 18) (the “Rep Office Tax Measures”) to reform the taxation rules applicable to representative offices of foreign enterprises in China (“Rep Office”). The Rep Office Tax Measures, which are retroactively effective from January 1, 2010, revise existing Rep Office taxation rules inter alia by abolishing previous tax exemptions and increasing the minimum deemed profit rate. Prior to effectiveness of the Rep Office Tax Measures, Rep Offices were taxed in one of three ways, (i) based on their actual profits (“Actual Profit Method”), (ii) based on their “deemed profits” (“Deemed Profit Method”) or (iii) not subject to tax (“Tax Exemption”) when certain criteria were met. The major changes brought about by the Rep Office Tax Measures include: