INTERIM REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE VEHICLE AND VESSEL USAGE LICENSE PLATE TAX

Notes:

(Promulgated by the Central People’s Government Administration Council on

September 13, 1951)

    Article 1  All operators of vehicles and vessels within districts where
vehicle and vessel usage license plate tax is imposed shall, in accordance
with the provisions of these Regulations, pay vehicle and vessel usage license
plate tax to the respective tax authorities.

    Article 2  Domestic vessels previously subject to the payment of the
tonnage tax (vessel dues), shall no longer be subject to payment of the
tonnage tax, and shall, without exception, be subject to payment of the
vehicle and vessel usage license plate tax. Foreign vessels and the Chinese
vessels leased by foreign businesses shall, however, continue to be  subject
to tonnage tax and not vehicle and vessel usage license plate tax.

    Article 3  The provincial (municipal) people’s governments shall, subject
to the verification and approval of the people’s governments (military and
administrative commissions) of the greater administrative regions, designate
those districts in which the vehicle and vessel usage license plate tax is to
be imposed and shall report the districts designated to the Ministry of
Finance of the Central people’s Government for the record; provinces
(municipalities) directly under the Central Government shall, prior to the
imposition of the tax, report the districts designated to the Ministry of
Finance of the Central People’s Government for verification and approval.

    Article 4  Operators of vehicles and vessels subject to payment of the
vehicle and vessel usage license plate tax shall apply to the local tax
authorities for registration, paying the tax, and obtaining license plates
and the tax payment certificates. The aforesaid vehicle and vessel license
plates and tax payment certificates shall be made and issued by the
provincial (municipal) tax authorities.

    Article 5  Vehicle and vessel usage license plate tax shall be collected
on a quarterly basis (in January, April, July and October). Alternatively, for
the convenience of the tax payers to make the tax payments, the local tax
authorities may collect an aggregate amount of tax on a biannual or annual
basis.

    Article 6  The following categories of vehicles and vessels shall be
exempt from the payment the vehicle and vessel usage license plate tax:

    (1) vehicles and vessels operated by suburban farmers for their own use;

    (2) fishing vessels with a deadweight capacity not in excess of one ton;

    (3) vehicles and vessels owned and operated by military and government
units, public and private schools and social organizations for their own use;

    (4) pontoons and floating docks used exclusively for passengers, the
loading and unloading of cargo and the storage of goods;

    (5) vehicles and vessels certified by the respective local transport
administration offices and verified and approved by the tax authorities that
they are no longer in use or have been dismantled; and

    (6) fire trucks, water sprinkler vessels, ambulance vehicles and ambulance
vessels, waste removal vehicles and waste removal vessels and ferries.

    In order to obtain a tax-exempt license plate, opetators of vehicles and
vessels that are exempt from tax and listed above in Items (1), (2) and (6)
shall apply to the local tax authorities for registration and obtaining the
tax-exempt license plate and paying a fee covering the manufacturing cost of
the license plate.

    Article 7  The amount of vehicles usage license plate tax shall be as
follows:

   ———————————————————————

   |        |              |  
Unit for    |   Quarterly  |            |

   |  Type  |   Category   |  Calculating  |  Tax
Payment |  Remarks   |

   |        |              |    
Tax       |   (Note 1.)  |            |

   |——–|————–|—————|————–|————|

   |        |   Passenger  |  Per vehicle  |
150,000,yuan |            |

   |        |   vehicles   |              
|  to 800,000  |            |

   |        |              |              
|    yuan      |            |

   |        |————–|—————|————–|————|

   |        |    Trucks    |  Per
ton, by  | 40,000 yuan  |            |

   | Motor  |              |  net
tonnage  | to 150,000   |            |

   |vehicles|              |              
|    yuan      |            |

   |        |————–|—————|————–|————|

   |        |              |  Per
motor-   | 50,000 yuan  |            |

   |        |              |    
cycle     | to 150,000   |            |

   |        | Motor-cycles |              
|    yuan      |            |

   |        |              |—————|————–|————|

   |        |              |  
Per motor   | 80,000 yuan  |            |

   |        |              |  
tricycles   | to 200,000   |            |

   |        |              |              
|    yuan      |            |

   |——–|————–|—————|————–|————|

   |        | Animal-drawn |  Per vehicle  | 10,000 yuan  |            |

   |        |              |              
| to 80,000    |            |

   |        |              |              
|    yuan      |            |

   |        |————–|—————|————–|————|

   | Non-   |  Manually    |  Per vehicle  |3,000 yuan to |
Including  |

   | motor  |   driven     |              
| 60,000 yuan  | pedicabs.  |

   |vehicles|              |              
|              | rickshaws  |

   |        |              |              
|              | and other  |

   |        |              |              
|              | manually   |

   |        |              |              
|              | drawn      |

   |        |              |              
|              | vehicles   |

   |        |————–|—————|————–|————|

   |        |  Bicycles    |  Per bicycle  |5,000
yuan to |            |

   |        |              |              
| 10,000 yuan  |            |

   ———————————————————————

    Article 8  The amount of vessel usage license plate tax shall be as
follows:


————————————————————————
|  Type |Unit for calculating|   Quarterly tax    |      Remarks      
|
|       |   tax              |  payment
(Note 2.) |                    |
|——-|——————–|——————–|——————–|
|       |     Under 50 tons  | 3,000 yuan per ton |Calculated on the  
|
|       |                    |                    |basis
of net tonnage|
|       |——————–|——————–|——————–|
|       |     51 – 150 tons  | 3,500 yuan per ton |Calculated on the  
|
|       |                    |                    |basis
of net tonnage|
|       |——————–|——————–|——————–|
|       |    151 – 300 tons  | 4,000 yuan per ton |Calculated on the  
|
|       |                    |                    |basis
of net tonnage|
|       |——————–|——————–|——————–|
|       |    301 – 500 tons  | 4,500 yuan per ton |Calculated on the  
|
|       |                    |                    |basis
of net tonnage|
|       |——————–|——————–|——————–|
|Motor- |   501 – 1000 tons  | 5,500 yuan per ton |Calculated on the   |
|vessels|                    |                    |basis
of net tonnage|
|       |——————–|——————–|——————–|
|       |  1001 – 1500 tons  | 6,500 yuan per ton |Calculated on the  
|
|       |                    |                    |basis
of net tonnage|
|       |——————–|——————–|——————–|
|       |  1501 – 2000 tons  | 8,000 yuan per ton |Calculated on the  
|
|       |                    |                    |basis
of net tonnage|
|       |——————–|——————–|——————–|
|       |  2001 – 3000 tons  | 9,500 yuan per ton |Calculated on the  
|
|       |                    |                    |basis
of net tonnage|
|       |——————–|——————–|——————–|
|       |  3001 tons and     | 11,000 yuan per ton|Calculated on the  
|
|       |      upwards       |                    |basis
of net tonnage|
|——-|——————–|——————–|——————–|
|       |     Under 10 tons  | 1,500 yuan per ton |Calculated on the  
|
|       |                    |                    |basis
of tonnage of |
|       |                    |                    |loading
capacity    |
|       |——————–|——————–|——————–|
|       |      11 – 50 tons  | 2,000 yuan per ton |Calculated
on the   |
|       |                    |                    |basis
of tonnage of |
|       |                    |                    |loading
capacity    |
|       |——————–|——————–|——————–|
|Non    |     51 – 150 tons  | 2,500 yuan per ton |Calculated on the  
|
|motor- |                    |                    |basis
of tonnage of |
|vessels|                    |                    |loading
capacity    |
|       |——————–|——————–|——————–|
|       |    151 – 300 tons  | 3,000 yuan per ton |Calculated on the  
|
|       |                    |                    |basis
of tonnage of |
|       |                    |                    |loading
capacity    |
|       |——————–|——————–|——————–|
|       |     301 tons and   | 3,500 yuan per ton |Calculated on the  
|
|       |         upwards    |                    |basis
ol tonnage of |
|       |                    |                    |loading
capacity    |
————————————————————————

    Article 9  Except where vehicle and vessel usage license plate tax is
imposed on vessels on the basis of tonnage according to the provisions, the
provincial (municipal) people’s government shall, within the range of the tax
amount prescribed in the preceding Article, determine according to existing
local conditions the amounts of tax applicable to vehicles of different
categories, deadweight capacities, and the nature of uses, and shall report
such determinations to the people’s governments (military and administrative
commissions) of the greater administrative regions for examination, approval
and implementation and to the Ministry of Finance of the Central People’s
Government for the record; provinces (municipalities) directly under the
Central Government shall report their determinations to the Ministry of
Finance for examination and approval and for the record.

    Article 10  Vehicles and vessels for which the tax due has been paid and
for which license plates have been obtained, when transferred to and operated
in another taxing district, shall not be further subject to tax or subject to
additional tax due to differences in taxation between the former district and
the latter district for the duration of the validity of the licenses.

    Article 11  In respect of vehicles and vessels which are registered in
districts where no vehicle and vessel usage license plate tax is imposed, but
which are frequently operated in districts where vehicle and vessel usage
license plate tax is imposed, the vehicle and vessel usage license plate tax
must be paid to the city tax authorities therein; as to those vehicles and
vessels which are not frequently operated in districts where the vehicle and
vessel usage license plate tax is imposed shall be exempt from tax upon
obtaining a certificate of tax exemption from the respective people’s
government at or above the local township (or village) level.

    Article 12  Vehicle and vessel license plates may not be sold, given as
gifts, loaned or used beyond their expiry date. Where the ownership of
vehicles and vessels is transferred, the license plates may be used until the
termination of the period of validity of the license plates; no additional tax
shall be paid and no tax shall be refunded during such a period.

    Article 13  In cases of damage to or loss of the license plates of
vehicles or vessels, a report shall be filed with the office that originally
issued the license plates for replacement license plates; no additional tax
shall be paid during the period of validity of the original license plates.

    Article 14  Vehicle and vessel license plates shall, according to the
provisions, be fitted to a conspicuous place on vehicles or vessels to
facilitate identification.

    Article 15  The penalties for violation of the provisions of these
Regulations are stipulated as follows:

    (1) persons who fail to comply with the provisions concerning reporting,
registration, the payment of tax and the obtaining of license plates shall,
in addition to the payment of tax within a time limit, be subject to a fine
of three times or less the amount of tax due.

    (2) persons who violate any one of the provisions of Articles 12,13 or 14
of these Regulations shall be subject to a fine not exceeding 100,000 yuan
Renminbi (i.e. the Old Renminbi – the editor.).

    (3) Persons who fail to pay tax within the prescribed period shall, in
addition to the payment of tax within a time limit, be subject to a late
payment fine of 1% of the amount of tax due for each day payment is delayed.

    Article 16  Measures for the investigation and collection of the vehicle
and vessel usage license plate tax shall be formulated by the provincial
(municipal) tax authorities, and submitted for verification, approval and
implementation to the provincial (municipal) people’s government and to the
General Taxation Bureau of the Ministry, of Finance of the Central People’s
Government for the record.

    Article 17  On the promulgation of these Regulations, all separate rules
and measures governing the license plate tax in the various localities shall
be annulled.

    Article 18  These Regulations shall go into effect as of the date of
promulgation.

Notes: