GACC Announcement No.17, 2016 on (Import-Tax Exemption for Charitable Donations from Abroad)

Upon State Council approval, import duties and VAT may be exempted for charitable supplies donated from abroad. In 2015, the Ministry of Finance, GACC and State Administration of Taxation have jointly promulgated the "Measures on Import-Tax Exemption for Charitable Donations from Abroad", by which the GACC hereby announces relevant matters with implementation of the Measures:

1. The donee stipulated in the aforesaid Measures shall be responsible for receipt of the donations and present the Import Certificate for Foreign Charitable Donations and Donation Distribution & Use List (see the Annexes).

2. The donee shall, before import declaration, undertake tax relief formalities with local Customs Houses for the foreign donations. The donee may also entrust donation user with the tax relief formalities with local Customs Houses.

Where the donee is State Council departments, Red Cross Society of China, All-China Women's Federation, China Disabled Persons' Federation, China Charity Federation, China Primary Health Care Foundation, China Song Ching Ling Foundation, or China Cancer Foundation respectively, the donee shall undertake the tax relief formalities with Beijing Customs.

3. The "donation user" described herein refers to direct users or distributors of the charitable donations from abroad.

4. Regarding the tax-relief formalities, the donee or the user shall submit the following documents:

(1) Original Letter of Donation from abroad;
(2) Donee-issued Import Certificate for Foreign Charitable Donations and Donation Distribution & Use List (original);
(3) The charitable societies or foundations registered and rated as 5A by Civil Affairs Administrations shall also submit the donee eligibility certificate (original) issued by Civil Affairs Administrations and 5A rating certificate (both original and copy);
(4) The donation users shall submit original Letter of Authorization issued by the donee;
(5) Other documents as required

5. Local Customs shall, upon the aforesaid documents, conduct the tax-relief formalities in accordance with the Measures aforesaid.

6. The tax-relief formalities shall be subject to Customs tax-relief management system. The import donations shall be classified as the nature of "Charitable Donation (code 802)" and the control mode of "Donated Supplies (code 3612)".

7. Where necessary, the donee shall apply to relevant administrations for import quota, registration and license, by which the Customs shall inspect the donations.

8. Where the tax-free donations belong to Customs-controlled goods, within the control period, the donations shall not be transferred, mortgaged, pledged or used for other purposes without Customs approval.

9. This Announcement shall be interpreted by the GACC hereto.

10. This Announcement shall enter into force as of 1 April 2016.

Annexes: Donee-issued Import Certificate for Foreign Charitable Donations and Donation Distribution & Use List (omitted)



General Administration of Customs of China (GACC)
March 21, 2016