Laws of the People's Republic of China

PROVISIONAL REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE VEHICLE
AND VESSEL LICENSE PLATE TAX

  (Promulgated by the Administrative Council of the
Central People's Government on September 13, 1951)

(the duties involved in this regulation have changed dramatically, and
these tax rates no longer remain in effect)

SUBJECT: TAXATION

ISSUING-DEPT: STATE COUNCIL OF CHINA

ISSUE-DATE: 09/19/1951

IMPLEMENT-DATE: 09/13/1951

LENGTH: 1684 words

TEXT:

[Article 1] All persons operating vehicles and vessels within areas where the Vehicle and Vessel License Plate Tax (hereinafter called the Tax) is levied, shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations, pay the Tax to the tax office.

[Article 2] Domestic vessels originally paying Tonnage Tax (Vessel Dues) shall, without exception, pay the Tax instead of the Tonnage Tax; however, foreign vessels and Chinese vessels chartered by foreigners shall still pay the Tonnage Tax and not the License Plate Tax.

[Article 3] Areas where the Tax is to be levied shall be designated by the provincial (municipal) People's Government, subject to approval by the People's Government (Military-Administrative Council) of the greater administrative regions, and shall be referred to the Ministry of Finance of the Central People's Government for recordation; in provinces (municipalities) directly under the Central Government, it shall be reported to and approved by the Ministry of Finance of the Central People's Government. (Note 1)

[Article 4] Those who are liable to pay the Tax, shall apply at the local tax office to register and to make payment, to receive the license plate and to obtain the certificate of tax payment.

The aforementioned vehicle and vessel license plate and certificate of tax payment shall be made and issued by the provincial (municipal) tax office. [Note]

[Article 5] The Tax shall be collected quarterly (in January, April, July and October). Local tax offices, in order to facilitate the payment process for taxpayers, may collect the aggregated amount of tax on a binnual or annual basis.

[Article 6] The following categories of vehicles and vessels are exempt from paying the Tax:

1. Vehicles and vessels of suburban peasants for their own use.

2. Fishing vessels with deadweight capacity not exceeding one ton.

3. Vehicles and vessels owned and used by administrative or military units, public and private schools, and social organizations themselves.

4. Hulks and pontoons used exclusively for passengers, loading or unloading cargoes and temporary storage of goods.

5. Parked vehicles, moored vessels, vehicles and vessels to be dismantled, as verified by the local transportation administration office and approved by the tax office.

6. Fire trucks, sprinkler trucks, ambulance vehicles and vessels, garbage trucks and vessels, and free ferries.

Operators of the above tax exempt vehicles and vessels listed in items 1, 2, 3, and 6 must report to the local tax office for registration to receive a tax exempt license plate and to pay for the cost of the license plate.

[Article 7] The schedule of the amounts of the license plate tax for vehicles is as follows: (Note 3)

			Quarterly
		Standard	†Tax
Type	Category	†and Unit	Payment	Note
			†(Yuan)
mechanized	Passenger	†Per car	150.000 to
vehicles	cars		800,000
	Vehicles	†Per ton	40,000 to
	for freight	†(net load-	150,000
		ing capac-
		ity)
	Motor-	†Per motor-	†50,000 to
	cycles	†bicycle	150,000
		per motor-	†80,000 to
		tricycle	200,000
non-	†Animal-	†Per vehicle	†10,000 to
mechanized	drawn		†80,000
vehicles
	Manual-	†Per vehicle	††3,000 to	Including
	driver		†60,000	pedicabs,
				rickshaws,
				and other
				manual-
				driven
				vehicles
	Bicycles	†Per bicycle	††5,000 to
			†10,000

[Article 8] The schedule of the amounts of the license plate tax for vessels is as follows: (Note 4)

			Quarterly
			Tax
tax	Standard and Unit		Payment	Note
			(Yuan)
mechanized	Equal to or less	per ton	3,000	To be as-
vessels	††than 50 tons,			sessed on
				net tonnage
	†51 to 150 tons,	per ton	3,500	to be as-
				sessed on
				net tonnage
	151 to 300 tons,	per ton	4,000	To be as-
				sessed on
				net tonnage
	301 to 500 tons,	per ton	4,500	To be as-
				sessed on
				net tonnage
	501 to 1,000 tons,	per ton	5,500	To be as-
				sessed on
				net tonnage
	1,001 to 1,500	per ton	6,500	To be as-
	†tons,			sessed on
				net tonnage
	1,501 to 2,000	per ton	8,000	To be as-
	†tons,			sessed on
				net tonnage
	2,0001 to 3,000	per ton	9,500	To be as-
	†tons,			sessed on
				net tonnage
	3,001 tons and	per ton	11,000	To be as-
	†above,			sessed on
				net tonnage
non-	Equal to or less	per ton	1,500	To be as-
mechanized	††than 10 tons,			sessed on
vessels				deadweight
				tonnage
	11 to 50 tons,	per ton	2,000	To be as-
				sessed on
				deadweight
				tonnage
	51 to 150 tons,	per ton	2,500	To be as-
				sessed on
				deadweight
				tonnage
	151 to 300 tons,	per ton	3,000	To be as-
				sessed on
				deadweight
				tonnage
	301 tons and	per ton	3,500	To be as-
	†above			sessed on
				deadweight
				tonnage

[Article 9] While the Tax on vessels is to be assessed on the basis of tonnage in accordance with the regulations, the provincial (municipal) People's Government shall, within the range of tax amounts as stipulated in Article 7, work out a schedule of tax amounts applicable to vehicles of different types, tonnage capacity and uses in light of local existing conditions, and report to the People's Government (Military-Administrative Council) of the greater administrative regions for execution approval and to the Ministry of Finance of the Central People's Government for recordation; in provinces (municipalities) directly under the Central government shall be reported to the Ministry of Finance of the Central People's Government for approval and recordation.

[Article 10] Vehicles and vessels which have already paid the Tax and have received the license plates in an area, when moving to any other area, shall not be taxed again, or be required to make up any differences between areas when the license is valid.

[Article 11] Vehicles and vessels registered in areas where the Tax is not levied but operating frequently in areas where such tax is levied, must pay the Tax to the tax office there; those vehicles and vessels not frequently operating in the latter areas shall be exempted after obtaining certification from the local People's Government above the district township (or village) level.

[Article 12] The vehicle and vessel license plate may not be sold, given as gift, lent or be used after its expiration date. When transfering vehicle or vessel ownership, the plate may be used until the end of the valid period; no further tax shall be paid, no refunds will be made.

[Article 13] In case of damage or loss of the vehicle and vessel license plate, a report should be made to the original issuing office for its replacement; no further tax shall be paid within the valid period.

[Article 14] The vehicle and vessel license plate shall be placed in a conspicuous place on the vehicle or vessel in accordance with the Regulations for easy identification.

[Article 15] The penalties for infraction of the Regulations are as follows:

1. Those who fail to observe the stipulated formalities concerning the reporting, registering, payment of tax and receipt of the license plate, besides being given a deadline to pay the tax and get the license, shall be fined an amount up to three times the amount of the tax due.

2. Those who violate any one of the Regulations in Articles 12, 13, or 14 shall be fined an amount up to RMB One Hundred Thousand Yuan (100,000). (Note 5)

3. Those who fail to pay the Tax within the prescribed period shall, besides being made to effect payment within a time limit, be imposed a late payment penalty of one per cent (1%) per day on the amount of tax due. (Note 6)

[Article 16] Measures for the assessment and collection of the Tax shall be worked out by the provincial (municipal) tax office and shall be submitted to the provincial (municipal) People's Government for approval and enforcement, and, grade by grade, to the General Taxation Bureau of the Ministry of Finance of the Central People's Government for recordation.

[Article 17] Upon promulgation of the Regulations, separate rules and measures governing the license plate tax in all localities shall be annulled.

[Article 18] The Regulations shall come into force from the date of promulgation.

Notes

Note 1. After the abolition of the greater administrative region in 1954, areas where the Tax is to be levied shall henceforward be designated by the municipal and hsien (county) People's Councils, and submitted to the People's Councils of the province or autonomous region for approval, and to the Ministry of Finance of the Central People's Government for recordation.

Note 2. The vehicle and vessel license plates originally issued by the departments of public security and of communications and those issued by the tax offices, were replaced by a general license in accordance with the Joint Circular dated July 26, 1957, of the Ministries of Finance and of Public Security (No. '57' Cai-Shui-Ang 108 and No. '57' Gong-Zhi 211, respectively) and the Joint Circular dated July 24, 1957, of the Ministries of Finance and of Communications (No. '57' Cai-Shui-Ang 105 and No. '57' Jiao-Du-Yu 364, Respectively.

Notes 3, 4. The amounts listed in the tables are in the old currency. After the issuance of the new currency, "Ten Thousand Yuan (10,000), One Thousand Yuan (1,000), One Hundred Yuan (100)" should be changed to "Yuan, jiao, fen" respectively.

Note 5. See Notes 3 and 4.

Note 6. In the Circular of the Ministry of Finance, dated July 15, 1952, (No. '52' Cai-Ji-Shui 594) it is stipulated that the rate of late payment penalty shall be lowered to one half of one per cent (0.5%).