Measures taken to ease burden on businesses

Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province has recently rolled out measures to alleviate burdens on local businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

These new measures are expected to exempt local businesses from 20 billion yuan ($3.14 billion) in taxes and other fees throughout the year, according to an official from the local tax bureau.

The VAT refund for small and micro-sized businesses will be returned to them in six months and the time needed for tax reimbursements for exports will be reduced from five to three working days, helping businesses obtain working capital more quickly.

The beneficiaries of tax and fee relief policies have also been expanded from small-scale VAT taxpayers to small and micro-sized businesses and individual businesses.

Small, medium and micro-sized manufacturing companies are allowed to postpone payment of some taxes and fees by six months and payment of old-age, unemployment, and work-related injury insurances will be given a maximum extension of six months to some businesses.

On April 11, 12 more measures were published by Wuxi authorities to support the worst-hit industries, including catering, retail, accommodation, tourism, and road and water transportation.

Due to these measures, 50 percent of taxes and fees will be waived for Wuxi Wokang Catering Co Ltd this year, meaning the company will save nearly 12,000 yuan in taxes and fees. "The saved taxes and fees are equivalent to the profits of nearly 50,000 fast food orders," said Wokang's manager Zhou Lan.

Benefiting from the tax relief policy, Nep-Star Drugstores in Wuxi will save more than 1 million yuan this year, which will be used to train employees and improve services.