September 21, 2017 Source: China Economic Net

Recently, the General Department of the National Energy Administration issued a letter requesting the "Notice on Reducing the Tax Fees of Enterprises in the Field of Renewable Energy" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"). According to the actual situation that the tax burden of renewable energy enterprises is generally heavier, the Notice clarifies the tax and fee reduction policies for renewable energy enterprises. For photovoltaic enterprises, the "Notice" stipulates that the policy of VAT on photovoltaic power generation products will be refunded 50%, from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2020. Experts said that photovoltaic power generation is at a critical stage of going to the Internet at a parity and out of subsidy development, which will provide strong support for the sustainable and healthy development of the photovoltaic industry.

With the strong support of the state, China's renewable energy has achieved rapid development in recent years, the scale of the industry has grown rapidly, the cost of wind power and photovoltaic power generation has dropped significantly, and the competitiveness of the industry has been continuously strengthened. However, the tax burden of renewable energy enterprises in some areas is still relatively high. weight.

According to the current Notice on the Continued Implementation of the VAT Policy for Photovoltaic Power Generation, the 50% discount on the value-added tax on photovoltaic power generation products will expire at the end of 2018. “VAT is an important part of the cost of photovoltaic power generation. After the expiration of the preferential policies in 2018, it will increase the burden on photovoltaic power generation enterprises,” said an industry source.

All along, the industry's call for tax reduction or tax exemption for photovoltaic projects has never been reduced, and the latest draft for comments has made the industry see good hopes. Zhuang Yinghong, director of Dongfang Risheng Marketing Department, said that one of the main measures to promote the parity of the photovoltaic industry is to reduce the cost of products. And measures such as reducing PV products and project land tax can be seen as a large part of reducing product costs. The implementation of 50% tax rebate policy for photovoltaic products allows enterprises to increase investment in technology research and development, and encourages enterprises to pay attention to product research and development, and improve production capacity and product quality.

“Reducing the taxation of photovoltaic products and project land reduces the cost of the photovoltaic power supply side and the land cost, thus promoting the early realization of the electricity side and the power supply side parity online.” Yang Liyou, general manager of Jinneng Technology, said that for component manufacturers The decline in the tax burden will be more conducive to the current development of the photovoltaic industry after the overall gross profit returns to the manufacturing level.

The reporter learned that at present, for power generation projects that do not occupy the cultivated land and do not change the surface form, they still have to pay the farmland occupation tax. For example, the photovoltaic power plants invested by Trina Solar in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia are subject to the farmland occupation tax according to the total land area of the project. The tax amount is equivalent to 5%, 7.6% and 2.4% of the total investment of the project, respectively. 136 million yuan, bringing a heavy burden to enterprises.

To this end, the "Notice" clarifies that for photovoltaic power generation projects, the part of the photovoltaic array that does not occupy the land and does not change the surface form is exempt from the farmland occupation tax. Photovoltaic power generation projects using land construction within the scope of cities, county towns, towns, and industrial and mining areas shall be levied by provincial governments, and the towns shall not be levied on the land within the planned towns. The use of taxes; to meet the urban land use tax threshold, the part of the photovoltaic array does not occupy the land, does not change the surface form, does not count the occupied land area, exempt from urban land use tax.

Although the draft for comment has given many preferential treatments to the taxation of photovoltaic power generation projects, it is unavoidable that the current definition of “photovoltaic project construction land” is not clear enough, the land needs to be coordinated and managed by multiple departments, and the tax execution standards are not unified. Still let a lot of PV companies "crash".

"The above problems must be effectively solved. Whether it is a large-scale ground power station or a commercial and commercial rooftop power station, construction land is indeed the primary task of building a power station. If the above problems are not solved, it will affect the enthusiasm of enterprise development projects, so that many good projects are at the source. It is blocked." Zhuang Yinghong said that we and the industry as a whole are expecting the government to come up with more favorable policies, refine policies and strive for an early parity online.

For the time being, all kinds of land tax still occupy a certain proportion in the total cost of PV project development, which increases the burden on enterprises to a certain extent, and also delays the process of the industry entering the Internet. Zhuang Yinghong said: First of all, from the aspect of taxation, the whole industry needs the government to introduce favorable policies and give market support; once again, enterprises also need to carry out measures to reduce costs and increase efficiency, such as increasing product technology research and development, thereby reducing product costs. Improve product power generation efficiency. Industry evaluation online requires the joint efforts of enterprises and the government and the market.

In addition to giving preferential treatment to taxation, the Chinese government also hopes to use financial means to promote the sustainable development of the photovoltaic industry. The "Notice" clearly mentions that local banks should encourage banks and other financial institutions to lower the loan interest rate, which will greatly help enterprises reduce production. cost.

       “Photovoltaic power generation is a capital-intensive industry. One-time investment in power plant projects can continue to generate revenue throughout the life cycle (at least 25 years). However, whether it is a large-scale ground power station or a distributed project, the initial investment is for the company or individual. These are not small figures, which have caused many investors and individuals to be discouraged from photovoltaic power generation projects.” Yang Liyou believes that the threshold of PV-related loans and interest rates, and the issuance of corporate loans by renewable energy companies can reduce the financing pressure of the project in the early stage. Let more enterprises and individuals invest in photovoltaic power generation and use green power to promote the transformation of China's energy structure.