BEIJING, June 4: China plans to unify corporate taxes for domestic and foreign-funded firms next year as part of broader tax reforms, the Economic Daily reported on Tuesday.

“Income taxes for foreign-funded and domestic firms will be unified next year,” the newspaper quoted Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng as saying.

Xiang did not elaborate on details of the plan or say what the unified tax rate would be.—

Many foreign-funded firms enjoy preferential income tax rates as low as 15 per cent from local authorities. Domestic firms are typically taxed at 33 per cent.

Analysts say China wants to ensure a smooth tax reform to protect billions of dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) needed to help spur economic growth.

In a broader tax reform, the government plans to carry out a long-delayed move to tax fuel consumption to replace fees on vehicles in 2003 when “the international oil prices stabilise”, Xiang was quoted as saying.—Reuters