Nearly 60,000 enterprises and residents of Hengqin New Area can now process from home or work 326 tax-related items covering seven categories.

An electronic taxation program was released on April 23 to run on the online processing site of the Guangdong Provincial Tax Service of the State Taxation Administration https://www.etax-gd.gov.cn/xxmh/html/index.html. Taxation procedures can be completed using that program or via the V-Tax long-distance visible self-service taxation system accessible on either the website or WeChat Mini Program and App.

Launch ceremony [Photo by Xu Qingqing / chinanews.com]

The new system includes 309 regular services covering all tax-related items arising from the daily activities of a business from birth to extinguishment. Seventeen other services focus on real estate, social security, and legal activities. The taxpaying services were also extended to the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

Taxation procedures were simplified with documents needed for all 326 items reduced by 43.6 percent from 1,202 to 678, according to Huang Ting, a staffer at Hengqin's tax bureau.

Hengqin is the first pilot area for such a project in Guangdong and anticipates a successful experience worth spreading to the province's other cities. As more items are added, the convenience will be amplified, according to Liang Shitao, vice director of the Guangdong Provincial Tax Service of the State Taxation Administration.

Major advancements have been made in recent years to optimize Hengqin's business environment with 370 innovative institutions implemented, 52 measures promoted throughout Guangdong, and seven practices followed nationwide.