Advocacy Letter on Guidelines for the Application of Financial Subsidies for IIT in Shenzhen 

2023-09-21 | South China

On 21st September, European Chamber South China sent the advocacy letter to the Shenzhen Bureau of Commerce and raised the following concerns regarding the " Guidelines for the Application of Financial Subsidies for Individual Income Tax in the 2021 and 2022 Tax Years for Overseas High-end Talents and Scarcely Needed Talents in Shenzhen". The concerns are as following:

1. The application period is too short, with only one month available, and the eligibility criteria and industry requirements differ from the past. This has resulted in some eligible talents being unable to successfully apply. We recommend extending the application period to accommodate the new standards.

2.The eligibility criteria for applicants exclude overseas high-end talents who meet the criteria of "average wage income not less than 6 times the previous year's social average wage income in Shenzhen" for obtaining Category A "Foreigner's Work Permit in China." This exclusion prevents individuals who qualified in 2020 from continuing to apply for fiscal subsidies in 2021 and 2022. We suggest retaining this criterion.

3.Businesses that meet industry-specific requirements are unable to select their category within the application system. We recommend that the government publicly disclose information about relevant government liaison personnel to facilitate the inclusion of eligible enterprises in the application system, ensuring a smooth application process.

4.Due to the policy being released without prior consultation, and the tight application timeline, we propose that the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Commerce and other relevant departments hold a policy exchange meeting with member companies of the European Chamber in the week leading up to the application deadline. This will help ensure that qualified talents can successfully apply.