Notice on Issuing the Several Measures to Promote the Clustered Development of Professional Financial and Taxation Service Industry in Guangzhou Nansha New Area (Nansha Area of Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone)

Normative Document No 9 [2023] of the Office of the Administrative Committee of Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone of Guangzhou Municipality

Notice on Issuing the Several Measures to Promote the Clustered Development of Professional Financial and Taxation Service Industry in Guangzhou Nansha New Area (Nansha Area of Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone)

All towns (subdistricts), departments of and agencies directly under Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone (Nansha District),

The Several Measures to Promote the Clustered Development of Professional Financial and Taxation Service Industry in Guangzhou Nansha New Area (Nansha Area of Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone) has been approved by the Administrative Committee of Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone of Guangzhou Municipality and Nansha District People's Government and is hereby issued to you for your compliance and implementation. Problems encountered in the implementation shall be directly reported to Nansha District Bureau of Finance.

Office of the Administrative Committee of Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone of Guangzhou Municipality

Office of Nansha District People's Government of Guangzhou Municipality

October 9, 2023

Several Measures to Promote the Clustered Development of Professional Financial and Taxation Service Industry in Guangzhou Nansha New Area (Nansha Area of Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone)

These Measures are formulated to fully implement the Overall Plan for Promoting Comprehensive Cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao by Further Deepening Opening-up in Nansha District of Guangzhou, build a cluster for professional financial and taxation service that "integrates various entities and connects with Hong Kong, Macao and foreign countries for common development" and help build a comprehensive service base for Chinese enterprises to go global.

These Measures apply to professional financial and taxation service agencies that settle in the Cluster for Professional Financial and Taxation Service in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Nansha), engage in actual business activities in Nansha and can provide services including accounting, taxation, auditing, consulting, assessment, etc. .

Article 1 Settlement subsidies

1. For leading professional financial and taxation service agencies that settle in the Cluster for Professional Financial and Taxation Service in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Nansha) and rank top 50 in the latest Comprehensive Evaluation of Top 100 Accounting Firms (Public Draft) issued by Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants or top 100 in the latest Announcement of the List of Top 100 Tax Agent Firms Ranked by Operating Income issued by China Certified Tax Agents Association at the time of settlement application in Nansha, a one-time settlement subsidy of two million yuan or one million yuan will be granted respectively.

For independent accounting branches established by top 100 professional financial and taxation service agencies in the latest ranking with business income of 10 million yuan or above in the year prior to the time of settlement application in Nansha, a one-time settlement subsidy of 500,000 yuan will be granted.

2. For accounting firms whose partners are Hong Kong or Macao financial and taxation professionals or associate tax agent firms jointly established by such accounting firms and mainland tax agent firms with a business income of 10 million yuan or above in the previous year, a one-time settlement subsidy of one million yuan will be granted.

Article 2 Tax preference

1. For professional financial and taxation service agencies whose main business falls into the industrial projects stipulated in The Catalogue of Enterprises for Income Tax Preference in Nansha District of Guangzhou and meet the policy criteria, the income tax shall be levied at a reduced rate of 15%.

2. Eligible Hong Kong or Macao residents may be exempted from the part of  individual income tax burden exceeding that of Hong Kong or Macao according to relevant provisions of the preferential individual income tax policy of the state for Nansha. For foreign professionals and high-level professionals, 15% of the part of their personal contribution to Nansha's economic development exceeding their income will be granted as a reward.

Article 3 Support for professionals

1. For natural person partners of professional financial and taxation service agencies with an annual personal business income of 300,000 yuan or above, or natural person shareholders of professional financial and taxation service agencies with an annual dividend and bonus of 300,000 yuan or above, a reward of 80% of the contribution of their personal business income or dividend and bonus to Nansha's economic development in the previous year will be granted.

2. For graduated full-time undergraduate, master's or doctoral students newly employed by professional financial and taxation service agencies and settle in Nansha, a living allowance of 30,000 yuan, 60,000 yuan or 120,000 yuan will be granted respectively.

3. For national high-end (high-level) professionals who have passed the selection of the Ministry of Finance, State Administration of Taxation, Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants or China Certified Tax Agents Association when working in Nansha, a one-time reward of 100,000 yuan will be granted. For provincial high-end (high-level) professionals that have passed the selection of the Department of Finance of Guangdong Province, Guangdong Provincial Tax Service of State Administration of Taxation, Guangdong Institute of Certified Public Accountants or Guangdong Certified Tax Agents Association when working in Nansha, a one-time reward of 30,000 yuan will be granted. For those selected as council member of International Sustainability Standards Board, International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, International Accounting Standards Board, International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants, Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants or China Certified Tax Agents Association when working in Nansha, a one-time reward of 150,000 yuan will be granted. The above-mentioned professionals are encouraged to join the selection of high-level professionals in Nansha. Those selected will be granted a reward of maximum 10 million yuan.

4. For Hong Kong or Macao financial and taxation professionals who work as partners of accounting firms or shareholders of associate tax agent firms, a one-time subsidy of 200,000 per person will be granted, with a maximum of 4 persons for each firm.

5. For professional financial and taxation service agencies that employ full-time Hong Kong or Macao professionals in Nansha for more than one year, a subsidy of 35,000 yuan/person/year will be granted, maximum 800,000 yuan for each agency.

6. For Hong Kong or Macao professionals employed by professional financial and taxation service agencies, a subsidy of 20% of their annual salary income in the agencies in Nansha will be granted, with a maximum of 5,000 yuan per month.

7. For those who hold overseas professional qualifications or certificates related to finance and taxation, such as Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Hong Kong Certified Tax Agents or Chartered Tax Agents, Macao Certified Public Accountants, China Certified Public Accountants, CPA Australia, Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA), the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) or US Certified Public Accountants (USCPA) and work full time in Nansha for two consecutive years, a one-time subsidy of 50,000 yuan will be granted. The above-mentioned professionals are encouraged to obtain CPA (Certified Public Accountant) or TA (Tax Agent) certificates when working in Nansha, and a one-time subsidy of 40,000 yuan or 20,000 yuan will be granted respectively. For professionals who obtain CPA (Certified Public Accountants), CTA (Certified Tax Agents) or TA (Tax Agents) certificates, who hold overseas professional qualifications or certificates related to finance and taxation, such as Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Hong Kong Certified Tax Agents or Chartered Tax Agents, Macao Certified Public Accountants, China Certified Public Accountants, CPA Australia, Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA), the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) or US Certified Public Accountants (USCPA) when working in Nansha and who have worked full time in Nansha for two consecutive years, a one-time subsidy of 40,000 yuan will be granted.

Article 4 Support for introducing high-quality enterprises

Professional financial and taxation service agencies are encouraged to introduce high-quality enterprises. Within two years after registration in Nansha, for introduced enterprises with a total annual profit of less than five million yuan, a one-time introduction subsidy of 5‰ of the profit will be granted to such agencies; for those whose total annual profit is 5 million yuan or above, a one-time introduction subsidy of 6‰ of the profit will be granted to such agencies. The subsidy specified in this paragraph shall not exceed 5 million yuan.

Article 5 Operation support

1. Support for operation contribution. For professional financial and taxation service agencies settled in the cluster, those contributing less than five million yuan to Nansha's economic development will be granted a reward of 85% of their annual contribution; those whose contribution to Nansha's economic development reaches five million yuan or more will be granted a reward of 95% of their contribution.

2. Support for increasing scale and strength. For professional financial and taxation service agencies that rank top 20 or 50 in the Comprehensive Evaluation of Top 100 Accounting Firms (Public Draft) issued by Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants or the Announcement of the List of Top 100 Tax Agent Firms with Operating Income in the Tax Agent Industry issued by China Certified Tax Agents Association for the first time after settling in the clustered area within the validity period of these Measures, a one-time reward of 2.5 million yuan or two million yuan will be granted respectively.

3. Support for offering listing and IPO services. For professional financial and taxation service agencies that help enterprises in Nansha successfully get listed or go IPO, a one-time reward of 100,000 yuan or 300,000 yuan will be granted respectively.

4. Support for buying practice insurance. A subsidy of 50% of the practice insurance premium paid by professional financial and taxation service agencies will be granted, with a maximum of 50,000 yuan each year.

5. Support for mixed operation. Certified public accounting firms, tax agent firms and other professional financial and taxation service agencies are encouraged to engage in mixed operations.

6. Support for informatization. For informatization projects that have been approved and initiated after the settlement of professional financial and taxation service agencies in the cluster and completed and put into use, a subsidy of 5% of the total investment will be granted with a maximum of 50,000 yuan.

Article 6 Cooperation and exchanges

1. For Hong Kong, Macao or international associations for the professional financial and taxation service industry establishing institutions in Nansha, a one-time operation subsidy of 400,000 yuan will be granted.

2. For professional financial and taxation service agencies or industry associations that have been selected as council member of International Sustainability Standards Board, International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, International Accounting Standards Board or International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants after settling in the clustered area, a one-time reward of 100,000 yuan will be granted.

3. Guangdong Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Guangdong Certified Tax Agents Association are encouraged to build supplier-buyer matchmaking platforms with Nansha for enterprises and professional service agencies in Nansha, regularly hold promotion events and financial assistance events for enterprises and professional service agencies in Nansha each year and facilitate the cooperation between enterprises and professional service agencies in Nansha.

4. Guangzhou Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Guangzhou Certified Tax Agents Association are encouraged to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Nansha, organize events such as policy publicity, professional training, technical discussion and exchange salons with Nansha and support cooperation and integration with their peers in Hong Kong and Macao.

5. Associations, agencies and professionals of the professional financial and taxation service industry are encouraged to facilitate the construction of Greater Bay Area International Accounting Institute in Nansha and cultivate international finance and taxation professionals to help Chinese enterprises go global.

Article 7 Guarantee and service

1. For professional financial and taxation service agencies with more than 20 employees, including no less than 10 professional and technical employees such as certified public accountants, tax agents and appraisers, and rent office accomodation for their own use in the cluster, an office accomodation subsidy will be granted according to the "pay first and be subsidized later" principle. Based on the rent of the office accomodation, the rent before August 31, 2024 will be 100% subsidized; The rent from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025 will be 60% subsidized; The rent from September 1, 2025 to the expiry date of these Measures will be 30% subsidized. The annual subsidy shall not exceed 3 million yuan and the office space subsidy shall not exceed the actual payment of the agencies.

For professional financial and taxation service agencies that purchase office accomodation in Nansha for their own use, according to the scale of the accomodation, a purchase subsidy of 10% of the purchase price will be granted, with a maximum of 10 million yuan.

2. For professional financial and taxation service agencies whose tax service credit (TSC) reaches level 5, tax authorities will provide facilitation services such as the green channel for tax service, bulk tax declaration and information distribution.

3. The systems for reporting uncertain tax-related matters and advance ruling of complex tax-related matters will be adopted. Professional financial and taxation service agencies can be entrusted to apply to relevant departments for providing certain services.

4. A special tax zone for professional financial and taxation services will be opened up. Efforts will also be made to encourage the establishment of mechanisms for multi-party coordination of cross-border tax-related service and tax policy service in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and to smooth channels for cross-border tax-related service.

Article 8 Living support

1. Integration of social security among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao shall be strengthened for finance and taxation professionals from Hong Kong and Macao working and living in Nansha to enjoy the same social security benefits as Guangzhou citizens.

2. Professionals from Hong Kong and Macao and high-end professionals above the provincial level who work at professional financial and taxation service agencies and meet relevant criteria can enjoy various social security policies for professionals in Nansha, such as living, children's education, spouse's employment, parents' elderly care and family medical care according to regulations.

Article 9 Support for going global

The headquarters of professional financial and taxation service agencies are encouraged to set up overseas branches and carry out substantive operations. For those meeting relevant criteria, a one-time reward of 500,000 yuan will be granted.

Supplementary provisions

1. If the same event or project meets the provisions for subsidies or rewards specified in these Measures and other supporting policies of Nansha at the same time , the highest subsidy or reward shall prevail and shall be granted only once, unless otherwise stipulated. Enterprises can enjoy the same type of policy support of Guangzhou Municipality and Nansha District at the same time, but the part that municipal policies require Nansha to bear shall be deducted when the enterprises apply for Nansha's support. Enterprises that have already enjoyed preferential policy support according to the "one enterprise, one policy" principle shall not enjoy similar policy support specified in these Measures.

2. Enterprises to which these Measures apply and their principal persons in charge shall have no serious violations of laws and regulations, no administrative penalties or other bad credit records. When applying for any subsidy or reward specified in these Measures, if the principal persons in charge of the applying enterprises or applying individuals are under investigation for suspicious involvement in a crime but the case has not been concluded, the subsidy or reward will be granted later. If transferred to judicial authorities for suspicious involvement in a crime and are ruled guilty, the subsidy or reward shall not be granted. If found to seriously violate national laws or regulations, the departments issuing subsidies or rewards shall recover the subsiddies or rewards that has been issued and relevant interest, publicize the misconduct and inform relevant departments in Nansha. In addition, the  application of such enterprises for any reward will not be accepted within three years.

3. Recipients of subsidies or rewards specified in these Measures shall sign a letter of commitment. If they fail to honor the commitment, they shall return all the funds received. Enterprises that obtain policy funds in bad faith shall be transferred to the judicial authority to be dealt with in accordance with the law.

4. The currency mentioned in these Measures is CNY. The words describing numerical values including "maximum", "more than", "up to", "over" and "higher than" in these Measures include the base values.

5. These Measures shall enter into force from the date of issuance and shall be valid for five years. Where there is any change or adjustment to relevant laws, regulations, or policies within the validity period of these Measures, such change or adjustment shall prevail.

6. These Measures shall be interpreted by Nansha District Bureau of Finance.

Form of Disclosure: Active Disclosure

Issued by the Secretariat of the Office of the Administrative Committee of Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone of Guangzhou Municipality on October 9, 2023