(Yicai) Sept. 5 -- China has extended more tax breaks through the end of 2027 to encourage innovation, equipment upgrading, and pollution prevention and control, according to the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration.

China will continue to exempt business incubators, university science parks, and nationally registered maker spaces from property and land taxes per a policy introduced in 2019, the ministry said yesterday. It also will not levy value-added tax on their income from incubation services, shoring up innovation and startups as well as easing the tax burden on entrepreneur platforms.

To encourage companies to invest more in devices and tools, China will continue to allow them to pay taxes on newly bought equipment that cost less than CNY5 million (USD684,550) per unit in a lump sum without calculating depreciation every year. The policy was launched in 2018 and was first extended to the end of this year.

The ministry will also roll over three other preferential tax policies: the halving of the resource tax on coal mine backfilling, introduced in 2014; the cut in corporate tax to 15 percent from 25 percent for third-party firms with pollution prevention and control businesses, launched in 2019; and VAT refunds for Chinese research and development centers and foreign R&D hubs that buy China-made equipment.

The ministry and other government departments have announced nearly 30 tax policies since last month, many of which prolonged tax breaks that were set to run out.

Editor: Martin Kadiev