The Third Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee made the Decision of the Central Committee on Several Issues Concerning the Improvement of the Socialist Market Economic System, and put forward the requirement of "implementing tax reform step by step", which indicates that a new round of tax reform is about to begin. The new round of tax reform is to further improve and deepen the tax system on the original basis, which will have a far-reaching and long-term impact on enterprise investment. The Impact of Current Tax System on Enterprise Investment China's tax system includes three parts: industrial and commercial tax system, agricultural tax system and customs duty. The main content of the current tax system is related to the industrial and commercial tax system, which was gradually established after many reforms after the founding of New China. (1) 1994 is an important turning point in China's tax work and an important milestone in China's tax system construction. This year, according to the deployment of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and the requirements of establishing and developing the socialist market economic system, China has carried out a comprehensive and profound structural reform of the industrial and commercial tax system. This reform has made great breakthroughs on many issues, both in scope and depth, which have had a positive and far-reaching impact on China's economic system reform and national economic development. Comprehensively reforming the circulation tax system is the key to this tax reform. In order to make China's circulation tax system adapt to the requirements of market economy, referring to the general practice of international circulation tax system reform, this circulation tax system reform has changed the traditional practice of dividing tax items according to products and setting different tax rates according to different tax items, established a general collection of value-added tax in production and circulation, and on this basis, selected a few consumer goods to collect consumption tax again; Retain the mode of collecting business tax on providing labor services, transferring intangible assets and selling real estate. The new turnover tax system is uniformly applicable to domestic-funded enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises, and the consolidated industrial and commercial tax levied on foreign-invested enterprises has been abolished. Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and aquatic products that were originally subject to product tax were changed to agricultural specialty tax and slaughter tax. The tax system reform has realized the unification of income tax, and the unified enterprise income tax is levied on domestic enterprises. The personal income adjustment tax and individual industrial and commercial household income tax are merged into a unified personal income tax, which is generally applicable to domestic and overseas personnel. Major adjustments have been made to special purpose taxes and local taxes. For example, levy land value-added tax, expand the scope of resource tax collection, cancel several taxes such as bonus tax and market transaction tax, delegate the management right of slaughter tax and banquet tax to provincial local governments, and prepare to add inheritance tax and securities transaction tax. 1994 the reform of industrial and commercial tax system has greatly adjusted the tax structure of our country, simplifying the industrial and commercial tax system from 32 taxes before the reform to 18 taxes. The tax reform has made the industrial and commercial tax system take a big step towards a scientific, simplified, applicable and efficient direction, and laid a solid foundation for establishing a tax system with China characteristics that meets the requirements of the socialist market economy. It can be said that 1994 tax reform is the largest, widest and most far-reaching tax reform in China since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and such a big move is rare in the world. On the basis of the tax system reform in the past ten years, after years of theoretical research and practical exploration, we actively learn from the successful experience of foreign tax system construction and combine our national conditions to formulate a reform plan. The implementation of the reform plan in recent 10 years has achieved great success on the whole and has been widely praised at home and abroad. There are four main points in its success: First, it has promoted the sustained, rapid and healthy development of the national economy without causing social and economic shocks. The second is to standardize the tax distribution relationship, which has promoted the sustained and substantial growth of tax revenue, while generally not increasing the burden on taxpayers. Third, concentrating the main tax power and most of the tax revenue in the central government is conducive to the state's macro-control of the national economy. Fourth, the tax system tends to be standardized, simplified and fair, basically in line with international practice, and the function of taxation has been strengthened. After the reform and gradual improvement of the tax system in recent years, China has initially established a tax system that meets the needs of the socialist market economic system, which has played an important role in safeguarding fiscal revenue, strengthening macro-control, deepening reform, expanding opening up, and promoting economic and social development. (B) the impact of the current tax system on enterprise investment. 1994 Although the tax reform has achieved remarkable results, it is still not thorough and perfect due to the limitation of objective conditions, and there are some remaining problems to be solved, especially the adverse impact on enterprise investment. 1. Because China implements production-oriented value-added tax, it is not allowed to deduct the tax included in the purchase of fixed assets. There are many problems: first, it is not conducive to encouraging enterprise equipment renewal and technological transformation, expanding investment demand and promoting the development of high-tech industries; Second, because the tax contained in the product cannot be completely eliminated, it is not conducive to the export of our products; Third, the high tax burden of productive value-added tax is not conducive to enterprises to expand reproduction. 2. The nominal tax burden of enterprise income tax is heavy and the actual tax burden is light, which is not conducive to the investment choice of enterprises. China implements different corporate income taxes for domestic and foreign-funded enterprises, domestic enterprises apply corporate income taxes, and foreign-funded enterprises apply corporate income taxes for foreign-invested enterprises and foreign enterprises. The nominal tax rate of enterprise income tax is 33%, but on the one hand, the pre-tax deduction of enterprises is insufficient, on the other hand, various preferential tax policies exist in large numbers, and the actual tax burden of enterprises is around 25%. The nominal income tax rate of foreign-invested enterprises and foreign enterprises is also 33%, but various preferential tax policies, especially regional preferential tax policies, have affected the investment choices of enterprises. 3. Internal and external tax systems are not unified. 1994 after the tax reform, domestic and foreign-funded enterprises still apply two sets of tax systems. For example, foreign-funded enterprises do not levy urban construction tax and urban land use tax, while domestic and foreign-funded enterprises apply different corporate income tax, vehicle and vessel use tax and property tax. It is not conducive to the unified regulation of the tax system and fair competition among enterprises. 4. The macro tax burden is light and the micro burden is heavy. The macro tax burden of 1993 was1.9%, which was reduced to 10.8% and 10.2% in 1994 and 1995 respectively. 1996 rose to 10.4%, 1999 continued to rise to 12.57%, reaching 16.83% in 2002. Compared with other countries, China's macro tax burden is relatively light. However, enterprises generally reflect that governments at all levels charge more and the burden on enterprises is heavier. This abnormal phenomenon must be reversed. 5. The tax reform of1994 focuses on solving the problem of overheated economy, and it is a tight tax system. For example, the adjustment tax on the investment direction of fixed assets and the land value-added tax are all measures to restrict investment, which leads to the decline of social investment year after year. The fixed assets investment of the whole society 1994 increased by 30.4%, which were 17.5%, 14.8%, 8.8%, 13.9% and 5.65438+ respectively. It has not adapted to the new situation of deflation. With the rapid development of China's socialist market economy, the contradiction between the current tax system and the development of the economic situation is becoming more and more prominent, and a new round of tax reform is imperative. The goal of deepening the tax reform is to establish a tax system that can adapt to economic fluctuations, effectively adjust, reflect the national industrial policy, promote the sustained, rapid and healthy development of the national economy, and meet the normal needs of the national financial recurrent budget on the basis of the tax structure that pays equal attention to turnover tax and income tax. This adjustment, reform and improvement of the tax system is a consolidation, deepening and development of the tax system reform from 65438 to 0994 on the basis of the current tax system. The general guiding ideology decided by the Third Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee is to steadily push forward the tax reform according to the principles of simple tax system, broad tax base, low tax rate and strict tax collection and management. According to the above ideas, the specific tax reform includes the following contents: 1. Reform the export tax rebate system. Since June 5438+ 10/day, 2004, the export tax rebate rate of value-added tax has been adjusted. Some products keep the original export tax rebate rate unchanged, some products increase the export tax rebate rate, and some products cancel the export tax rebate rate. The average export tax rebate rate was reduced from 15% to 12%. 2. Unify the tax system of various enterprises. Unify the income tax, vehicle and vessel use tax and property tax of domestic and foreign-funded enterprises. Clean up the existing preferential tax policies. Non-public enterprises enjoy the same treatment as other enterprises in taxation, and urge non-public enterprises to operate according to law and pay taxes according to regulations. 3. Value-added tax is changed from production to consumption, and equipment investment is included in the scope of value-added tax deduction, and it is gradually implemented on a pilot basis. 4. Improve the consumption tax and appropriately expand the tax base. Adjust the tax items, cancel the consumption tax on general consumer goods, and levy consumption tax on some high-consumption goods or behaviors. 5. Improve personal income tax, and implement a personal income tax system that combines comprehensiveness and classification. Rectify and standardize the distribution order, increase the adjustment of income distribution, and attach importance to solving the problem of excessive income gap among some members of society. Improve personal income monitoring methods and strengthen personal income tax collection and management. 6. Implement the reform of urban construction tax and fee, levy urban construction tax on foreign-funded enterprises, levy unified and standardized property tax on real estate where conditions permit, and cancel relevant fees accordingly. 7. Under the premise of unified tax administration, give local governments appropriate tax administration power. According to the principle of reasonable decentralization, the tax administration authority should be properly adjusted to correctly handle the distribution relationship between the central and local governments. 8. Deepen the reform of rural taxes and fees. Rural tax and fee reform is an important measure to reduce farmers' burden and deepen rural reform. We will improve the pilot policy of rural tax and fee reform, abolish taxes on special agricultural products, and accelerate the comprehensive reform of county and township institutions and the rural compulsory education system. On the basis of completing the pilot work, gradually reduce the agricultural tax rate, effectively reduce the burden on farmers, and create conditions to gradually realize the unification of urban and rural tax systems. The far-reaching influence of tax reform on enterprise investment The tax reform is not only to meet the needs of the development of socialist market economy, but also the application of national macro-control means and the readjustment of the distribution relationship between the state and enterprises. Although the impact of the new round of tax reform on enterprise investment will not be obvious in the short term, the positive promotion of the new round of tax reform on enterprise investment will become more and more obvious in the long run. 1. Adjust export tax rebate and strengthen macro-control. Adjusting the export tax rebate marks the improvement of China's macro-control level. In the past, the increase or decrease of China's overall export tax rebate rate could not be adjusted according to the actual situation of products. This time, the export tax rebate rate was adjusted according to the actual situation of product export, so as to minimize the adverse impact of the reduction of export tax rebate rate, which is conducive to enterprises to increase selective investment and expand export scale. 2. VAT transformation promotes enterprises to invest in machinery and equipment. Value-added tax shifts from production to consumption. The input of machinery and equipment can offset the value-added tax included in the purchase of machinery and equipment, which is equivalent to a subsidy of 17% to enterprises, which can mobilize the enthusiasm of enterprises to increase machinery and equipment and carry out technical transformation, and is also conducive to further expanding reproduction. Although this tax reform will be gradually implemented on the basis of the pilot, the pilot time will not be long, the reform speed will be relatively fast, and the majority of enterprises will soon enjoy the benefits of the tax reform and their investment enthusiasm will be encouraged. 3. Unify the tax system of various enterprises and promote the fairness of tax burden. Unify the income tax, vehicle and vessel use tax and property tax of domestic and foreign-funded enterprises. Impose urban construction tax on foreign-funded enterprises. Clean up the existing preferential tax policies and create a fair competitive tax environment for all kinds of enterprises. Fair tax treatment is conducive to stimulating the investment enthusiasm of enterprises and promoting additional investment of enterprises. 4. Reduce the overall tax burden and promote enterprise investment. China temporarily stops collecting the adjustment tax on fixed assets investment direction, and further deepening the tax reform will fully compensate the consumption of enterprises. For example, domestic-funded enterprises can appropriately reduce the corporate income tax rate and reduce the corporate tax burden according to the actual expenditure of wages. The transformation of value-added tax can also reduce the tax burden of enterprises Therefore, on the whole, this tax reform will not only increase the tax burden of enterprises, but also reduce the overall burden of enterprises and increase their profitability. The improvement of enterprise's profit level will improve investment ability and increase reproduction investment. 5. Deepen the reform of rural taxes and fees, and cultivate a unified urban and rural market. The existence of dual economy in China restricts the development of rural areas. The immaturity of the vast rural market has reduced the social consumption demand with the ability to pay and restricted the development of industrial production. In order to maintain the sustained, stable and rapid growth of China's national economy, it is imperative to cultivate rural markets. Deepening the reform of rural taxes and fees, reducing the burden on farmers, promoting the development of agricultural economy and promoting the growth of rural market are conducive to the further growth of industrial economy. Therefore, deepening the reform of rural taxes and fees and cultivating the unified market between urban and rural areas have created new opportunities for enterprise investment, and also opened up a broader space for enterprise investment, and enterprises will have more investment opportunities. The economic achievements in the past 20 years of reform and opening up have attracted worldwide attention, which cannot be separated from the correct guidance of the party's line, principles and policies since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, the in-depth development of various reforms, and the joint efforts of all sectors of society. Looking forward to the new century, China is recognized as the most promising country in the world. The new round of tax reform will play a positive role in promoting investment, the investment environment of enterprises will be better and better, and enterprises will usher in another new period of prosperity and development.