China extends e-commerce VAT concessions

The Chinese State Council has extended the current VAT discount and duty exemption for small value e-commerce imports to consumers.

The extension to the existing regime includes:

• The current 30% discount on VAT charges for imported B2C packages below CNY2,000 will now be raised to values of CNY5,000 or below
• The range of goods eligible for the exemption has been increased by over 60 items.
• The number of cities where the exemption applies has been increased to 22. The latest wave of cities includes: Beijing; Nanjing; and Shenyang.

The changes will take effect from 1 January 2019.