revising the rules

1、<p>　　Revising the Rules</p><p>　　A new set of tax rules went into effect on cross-border e-commerce retail sales on April 8 that experts say will increase the cost of goods purchased overseas that are

2、in high demand， such as food， health care and baby products. </p><p>　　The parcel tax， which was imposed on retail purchased online and typically stood at 10 percent， was removed under the new regulations. I

3、n its place are consumption and value-added taxes that come with a 30-percent discount， according to a joint announcement made on March 24 by the Ministry of Finance （MOF）， the General Administration of Customs and the S

4、tate Administration of Taxation. </p><p>　　The new rules also regulate how much consumers can spend online on a given day. Consumers can spend no more than 2，000 yuan （$309.12） on a single transaction and no

5、 more than 20，000 yuan （$2，091.19） in a year when purchasing imported products. Tariffs and additional taxes will be levied on any transactions exceeding these amounts. </p><p>　　The new rules are expected t

6、o raise the costs of most products with the tax rate for food， baby products and other consumer goods going from almost zero to 11.9 percent， said Mo Daiqing， Director of Online Retail Department of China E-Commerce Rese

7、arch Center， in an interview with China Industrial Economy News. </p><p>　　The change in costs are expected to alter consumer behavior now that the total taxes for some low-priced products will increase whil

8、e taxes on luxury goods could decline， Guo Fanli， a research director with Shenzhen-based industrial research company CIConsulting， told China Industrial Economy News. </p><p>　　For instance if a product is

9、priced lower than 500 yuan （$77）， its taxes will be higher than before， which will likely cause the company to raise prices. Cross-border ecommerce firms will also import more highpriced products. </p><p>　　

10、“Although cross-border e-commerce firms will lose some tax advantages and have higher costs， they still have some advantages over traditional importing channels. In the mid- and long-term， the cross-border e-commerce bus

11、iness will still be promising，” said Zhang Zhouping， head of the cross-border e-commerce department at the China E-Commerce Research Center. </p><p>　　Fairer competition </p><p>　　The rules aim

12、to address an imbalance in competition created over the past two years after the government wrote favorable policies to develop the business-tocustomer （B2C） model on cross-border e-commerce platforms. The difference bet

13、ween the low parcel tax on cross-border ecommerce transactions and the tariffs and other taxes imposed on general imports created unfair competition， government officials said. 　　However， it is unlikely the government w

14、ill provide permanent favorable tax policies f</p><p>　　The rules are expected to make China’s tax policies and law enforcement more uniform， reduce tax revenue losses， narrow the price gap between online an

15、d offline imported goods， protect the interests of traditional importing and sales channels and alleviate the unfavorable impact previous policies had on the offline retail industry， according to Cao Lei， head of the Chi

16、na E-Commerce Research Center. </p><p>　　“The new tax rules will also better regulate the fast-growing cross-border e-commerce business， and improve the custom-clearance efficiency， logistics efficiency， pro

17、duct quality and user experience of crossborder e-commerce imports，” she said. </p><p>　　Shifts in the industry </p><p>　　Higher tax rates mark an end of the era of low industrial access for the

18、 cross-border e-commerce industry， and usher in a new round of industrial reorganization. </p><p>　　Analyst Zhang said the focus of the new tax rules is to boost the real economy by cross-border e-commerce e

19、xports and promote just the business-to-business（B2B） model of cross-border e-commerce rather than all models. In the meantime， the B2C model of importing consumer goods in postal channels will be restricted. </p>

20、<p>　　Tan Naixun， a senior analyst with Beijingbased Internet consultancy Analysys International， said the new tax rules will increase price costs for cross-border ecommerce firms， which will start a new price war

21、that will be unfavorable for small and medium-sized cross-border importers. </p><p>　　Tmall， China’s major e-commerce site under the Alibaba Group， announced that for the time being it will not shift the ris

22、e in costs to its consumers， meaning Tmall will assume the increased costs. However， Tan warned that it will be difficult for small and medium-sized cross-border e-commerce websites to take on those cost increases if the

23、y don’t have adequate capital or if their suppliers don’t have adequate bargaining power. </p><p>　　E-commerce firms completely relying on bonded warehouse for imports will face many challenges， said Zeng Bi

24、bo， CEO of cross-border e-commerce marketplace Ymatou.com. If these firms cannot make adjustments immediately， they are likely to face further business pressures and those relying excessively on capital will likely go un

25、der. </p><p>　　Lin Zhiyong， Executive President of Guangzhou Airport Investment Co. Ltd.， agreed that the new tax rules will significantly change the cross-border e-commerce business. The parcel tax brought

26、in considerable profits to crossborder e-commerce firms. However， such price advantages will no longer exist under the new regulations， and 90 percent of small and medium-sized cross-border ecommerce firms are expected t