General Regulations of P. R. China Ⅲ

ZHENG CAI ZI [398] 1950.12.19

Article 1 Any person who slaughters pigs, sheep, cattle and similar livestock shall follow the provisions of these Regulations and shall pay Slaughter Tax.

Article 2 Where a person raises and slaughters livestock for his own consumption, he shall be exempt from the Slaughter Tax; however, if he sells a portion, that portion shall be subject to Slaughter Tax.

Article 3 Draught animals, transport animals, breeding stock, milking stock, pregnant animals and young livestock shall be protected. Each provincial (municipal) Government, on their own accord, shall formulate measures for the protection and slaughter of animals in line with local economic conditions and the customs of the people of that locality.

Article 4 Slaughter Tax shall be levied on a value based on the actual weight of the animal after slaughter; the rate of tax is 10%. Where the tax cannot be levied in a locality on the basis of actual weight, a standard weight shall be specified for each kind of animal to calculate a value on which the tax can be levied.

Article 5 The local taxation authorities shall investigate and announce, on a daily or periodical basis, the prices of meat subject to slaughter tax.

Article 6 Slaughter Tax shall be collected by taxation authorities. Where a locality is distant from taxation authorities, the People's Government of the district or township (village) or cooperative shall be entrusted with the collection of the Tax. However, the contract method of tax collection shall not be used.
The above-mentioned tax collection agents shall receive a handling fee of 3% or less of the amount collected, from the taxation authorities.

Article 7 Any person who slaughters livestock shall report to the taxation authorities or the tax collection agents for examination of the slaughtered livestock and the payment of Tax. Meat may be sold only after the issue of a certificate indicating the full payment of tax and the stamping of the meat after inspection. The sale of meat shall be strictly prohibited if it is considered harmful to public health; in such circumstances no tax payment is required.

Article 8 In order to protect public health and to make examination and collection more efficient, normal cities should gradually set up slaughter - houses, the management methods should be drawn up by the local taxation organization committee , the industrial commercial management and health organization, and submitted to the People's Government at the same level for examination and preparation for implementation.

Article 9 Any person engaging exclusively in slaughtering, or engaging in slaughtering concurrently with other business, prior to commencing the slaughtering, shall register with the Industry and Commerce Administration and the taxation authorities; when the business is terminated similar procedures to cancel the registration must be undertaken.

Article 10 The following activities shall be deemed to be in violation of these Regulations and penalties shall be as follows:
A. any person who fails to register in accordance with these Regulations shall be liable to a maximum fine of 300000 Renminbi;
B. any person who slaughters livestock and sells or transports the meat without authorization shall, in addition to the tax payable, also be liable to a maximum fine of three times the amount of tax due;
C. where persons counterfeit seals used to certify payment of tax or who violate prohibitions against the slaughter of livestock shall, where the circumstances are serious, be submitted to the People's Court for handling.

Article 11 Any person may report violations of the above-mentioned laws and regulations. Upon investigation and prosecution of the matter reported, the informant shall be granted a reward of between 20% and 30% of the fine; such matters shall be kept confidential on behalf of the informant.

Article 12 Methods of examination and collection of the Slaughter Tax shall be drafted by province or metropolitan level taxation offices according to these Regulations, submitted to the same level People's Government for examination and preparation for implementation, and submitted level by level to the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation and the Central Government for recording.

Article 13 Each provincial (municipal) Government shall issue decrees governing permission to slaughter livestock as well as exemptions from Slaughter Tax during religious festivals for national minorities within regions under their jurisdiction.

Article 14 These Regulations come into effect as of the day of their promulgation.

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