Government Online-Offline Shanghai is the proposition of the times for service-oriented government affairs and can maximize convenience for market entities and the people. In the reform of Government Online-Offline Shanghai, Yangpu District Tax Service actively strengthens its sense of responsibility, adheres to reform and innovation, strives to make its services more efficient, more convenient and more accurate, and takes the initiative to serve people. It has achieved a breakthrough in tax governance towards digitization and intelligence, contributing to the construction of a great tax governance system and the modernization of tax governance, and pushing the reform to a new level.

Online Q&As and “cloud consultation” for miscellaneous tax issues

Unveiled by Yangpu District Tax Service in 2019, Changyang Campus is a container-style “creation box.” It has Shanghai’s first off-site self-service tax office that provides cutting-edge and one-stop government services for popular entrepreneurship and innovation enterprises outside the service hall.

Ms. Shi who worked at an internet technology company in Changyang Campus had a problem due to the lack of cost allocation vouchers. There happened to be a self-service tax terminal at the Social Co-governance Station downstairs. She showed her ID card to the terminal and got connected to a tax expert who solved her problem in minutes. “In the past, I had to visit or call Tax Service when I had problems. Now I can make an appointment for ‘cloud consultation’ with a tax expert, which saves a lot of time,” said Ms. Shi. The “out-of-hall” co-governance station pioneered by Yangpu District Tax Service has extended services of Government Online-Offline Shanghai to technology and innovation parks. By far, 108,476 matters have been handled in this way, shortening trips by an average of 20 minutes and contributing to the construction of government services circles within 15 minutes’ reach.

Online guidance on policy-related operations

Over the past five years, Yangpu District Tax Service has continued to promote key aspects of the reform of Government Online-Offline Shanghai. It has built a government service system that integrates online and offline resources and created a three-in-one service model to provide 24/7 intelligent consulting services with the help of intelligent engines that accurately analyze tax payers’ questions. For individual start-ups, tax authorities offer a wide range of online learning channels.

Recently, Ms. Kong who worked at an information technology company got quality services from “Tax Spirit,” a virtual figure, at the non-contact tax center in the office building of Yangpu District Tax Service. When talking to Tax Spirit on a tablet, Ms. Kong mentioned “additional deduction for R&D expenses.” Tax Spirit immediately provided a few relevant answers. “Now you only need a tablet to learn about policies online. It’s so convenient!” said Ms. Kong after an online class. Yangpu District Tax Service launched intelligent guidance in October 2021, making policy introduction more interesting and providing a pleasant learning experience for taxpayers.

Online tax processing and smart processing of export tax refunds

In 2021, Yangpu District Tax Service empowered government services with a new export tax refund system to provide taxpayers with a full range of services in the form of cloud acceptance, cloud approval, cloud services, cloud coaching and paperless tax refund declarations via Government Online-Offline Shanghai.

Ms. Li, the financial director of an international trade company, successfully applied for an export tax refund after submitting declaration materials on the website of E-tax Shanghai. “In the past, if there was a problem in the application for export tax refund, it required online declaration and offline submission of materials. Nowadays, through E-tax Shanghai, I can submit materials online by using the image collection function. I don’t need to go to the office of tax authorities anymore,” said Ms. Li. The intelligent export tax refund service provided by Yangpu District Tax Service saves a lot of time for enterprises and citizens and improves the efficiency of the process.

Online declaration and payment of real estate and urban land use taxes across provinces

In 2021, Yangpu District Tax Service launched online information collection, declaration and payment of real estate and urban land use taxes across provinces on the website of E-tax Shanghai, breaking regional data barriers, realizing intelligent tax sources management and expanding the coverage of online processing of real estate tax and urban land use tax from the Yangtze River Delta region to the whole country.

“Last year, I had to travel from Binzhou, Shandong Province to Songjiang District, Shanghai to pay real estate and land use taxes, which was time-consuming. Now I can pay the taxes online, which is very convenient!” said Ms. Xu, a financial clerk of an international trade company in Shandong, applauding the measure after getting cross-provincial tax services.

Ms. Bai, the financial director of an electric company in Kunming, was new to the online declaration system for real estate and land use taxes and not familiar with the operation. After receiving her message for help, a clerk of Yangpu District Tax Service guided her to complete the process via WeChat. “Tax authorities launched online information collection, declaration and payment of real estate and land use taxes across provinces to facilitate tax processing for enterprises. They provide considerate guidance when taxpayers have problems,” said Ms. Bai. This innovative initiative makes smart taxation possible, greatly improves taxpayers’ satisfaction level, promotes the improvement of tax services and reduces the taxation burden on enterprises.

Over the past five years, Yangpu District has always adhered to the concept of “a people’s city for the people” and regarded the expectations of enterprises and the people as the goal and direction of the reform of Government Online-Offline Shanghai. The next issue will present the results of the Science and Technology Commission of Yangpu District and the changes in Yangpu District’s government services in more detail.