Impact of the Chinese VAT pilot on the international freight forwarding industry and the international shipping industry

Arguably the biggest change in China’s tax law in recent years is the reform of its turnover tax regime (‘VAT Pilot’), which will result in the merging of value-added tax (‘VAT’) and business tax (‘BT’) into a single VAT. With the advent of this VAT Pilot there are hot issues facing China, such as the integrity of the supply chain, the place of supply of services and financial leasing. Among these issues, VAT on services in the field of international freight forwarding and international shipping is worthy of close attention.In this article, the authors will share their insights into how the VAT Pilot impacts the international freight forwarding industry and the international shipping industry in China.