【商法专栏】VIE结构中投资者及创始人退出的税务问题 Tax issues for exiting VIE structure

私募股权/风险投资FortheEnglishversion,pleasescrolldown.V...



私募股权/风险投资

VIE（Variable Interest Entity）结构是指境外投资者和境内创始人共同设立一个离岸控股公司，再由该控股公司在中国境内设立一家外商独资企业，并由该外商独资企业通过一系列协议控制境内企业，从而实现境内企业与控股企业财务报表合并之目的。

VIE结构在互联网、医疗机构设立经营等外商投资限制或禁止行业是一种较为常见的结构安排。投资者和创始人的退出途径主要是控股公司上市或者被并购。并购交易中的税务风险是需要关注的问题。

投资者和创始人退出的具体情形复杂多样，如上市、股息分配、股权转让、回购等，并且各方可根据交易内容安排不同的交易方式以达到税收最优化的目的。限于篇幅，本文仅针对采用VIE结构的非上市企业中，境外机构投资者和境内自然人创始人间接转让控股公司（以开曼公司为例）股权需要考虑的中国税法问题。

境外投资者

境外机构投资者转让开曼公司股权时，主要适用的中国法律包括2007年颁布的《企业所得税法》及《企业所得税法实施条例》，以及2009年12月份发布的《国家税务总局关于加强非居民企业股权转让所得企业所得税管理的通知》（698号文）和2015年2月份发布的《国家税务总局关于非居民企业间接转让财产企业所得税若干问题的公告》（7号文）。

根据《企业所得税法》第2条、第3条、第4条、第27条以及《企业所得税法实施条例》第91条的相关规定，非居民企业是指依照外国（地区）法律成立且实际管理机构不在中国境内，但在中国境内设立机构、场所或有来源于中国境内企业所得的企业，非居民企业应就其来源于中国境内的所得缴纳企业所得税，税率为10%。

依据698号文和7号文的相关规定，非居民企业通过转让持有中国应税财产的境外企业的股权，产生与直接转让中国应税财产相同或相近实质结果的交易，需按照《企业所得税法》第三条第三款有关非居民企业就其来源于中国境内的所得缴纳企业所得税的规定，也就是需承担10%的预提所得税。

相比698号文，7号文将股权转让交易的报告义务主体进一步扩大，根据7号文第九条相关规定，间接转让中国应税财产的交易双方及被间接转让股权的中国居民企业可以向主管税务机关报告股权转让事项，也就是说报告义务主体包括了全部交易方。可以看出，境外投资者在境外通过间接转股退出时，所面临的税务问题是交易各方不能忽视的。

实践中，受让方为避免自身风险，通常会在交易文件中约定从交易对价中扣除预提所得税，并约定扣除款项在转让方提供相应的完税凭证后再行支付，以督促转让方尽快按照7号文的要求报缴纳税款。

境内创始人

境内创始人境外间接转股的，并无类似7号文或者698号文那样具有针对性的税法规则。对创始人通过其境外持股主体(通常是英属维尔京群岛公司)间接转让开曼公司的股权的，适用2011年修订后的《个人所得税法》及《个人所得税法实施条例》、1994年发布的《国家税务总局关于境外所得征收个人所得税若干问题的通知》和《境外所得个人所得税征收管理暂行办法》。

2014年，南京市税务机关就曾根据《个人所得税法》有关居民纳税人需就其在境内境外的财产转让所得缴纳个人所得税的规定，要求获得了减持收益的个人向主管税务机关按照20%的税率缴纳个人所得税。值得注意的是，根据《国家税务总局关于境外所得征收个人所得税若干问题的通知》，只有纳税人受雇于中国境内的公司、企业和其他经济组织以及政府部门并派往境外工作，境内派出单位才会为个人所得进行代扣代缴，对于取得境外所得没有扣缴义务人、代征人的纳税人，其应按照规定自行申报纳税。

由于境内创始人境外转股的收益调回国内时应根据2014年7月颁布的《国家外汇管理局关于境内居民通过特殊目的公司境外投融资及返程投资外汇管理有关问题的通知》办理相应外汇登记，办理登记时外汇部门也会要求提交纳税申报或完税凭证。

笔者观点

在设计交易结构和拟定交易条款时，交易各方应对中国税务问题给予充分的考虑。建议交易方与专业律师及税务师沟通，以保证投资者、创始人与受让方之间的交易顺利进行，从而为各方带来最大的利益。■

Private equity/venture capital

Tax issues when exiting a company adopting a VIE structure

Avariable interest entity (VIE) structure is an arrangement where an offshore holding company is jointly established between Chinese founders and foreign investors under which they establish a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) in China. That WFOE then controls a domestic enterprise via a series of contractual agreements. Through these agreements, the holding company can consolidate the financial statements of the domestic company into the group’s overall financial statements.

VIE structures have been commonplace for emerging industries where foreign investment is restricted or prohibited such as online technologies or the operation of medical institutions. The holding company being acquired or merged into another firm, or the holding company going public tends to be the exit mechanism for investors and founders. In the case of merger and acquisition transactions, it is important to be mindful of the tax risks and take effort to reduce them.

The exit methods for investors and founders are many and complex, e.g. going public, dividend distribution, share transfers, buy-backs. Further, the parties involved may arrange different approaches per the type of transaction to optimize their taxes.

This article will primarily focus on potential tax issues in transactions wherein shares of a holding company, e.g. a Cayman Island company, are indirectly transferred between a foreign institutional investor and the domestic individual founder.

Foreign investors

The applicable legislation on the transfer of Cayman Island companies shares by foreign institutional investors are the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementing regulations, both issued in 2007. Also applicable are the Notice on Strengthening the Administration of Enterprise Income Tax on Non-resident Enterprises’ Equity Transfer Income and the Announcement on Several Issues concerning the Enterprise Income Tax on Income from the Indirect Transfer of Assets by Non-Resident Enterprises issued by the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) in December 2009 and February 2015, respectively.

Per articles 2-4 and 27 of the Enterprise Income Tax Law and article 91 of its implementing regulations, non-tax resident enterprises are those established in accordance with the laws of a foreign jurisdiction and which the actual managing entities are not in China but which have an establishment in China or which receive revenue from China. Their Chinese revenue should be taxed at a rate of 10%.

SAT’s notice and announcement provide that where non-tax resident enterprises transfer foreign company shares holding taxable assets in China which produce a result identical or substantially similar to a direct transfer of Chinese taxable assets, the transfer shall be subject to a 10% withholding tax per article 3, paragraph 3 of the Enterprise Income Tax Law, which concerns taxes to be paid by non-tax resident enterprises on taxable income sourced in China.

The notice and announcement further expand the scope of the reporting obligors of share transfers. Article 9 of the announcement sets out that the two parties to the indirect transfer of China-taxable property and the China resident enterprise whose shares are indirectly transferred may report the share transfer to the competent tax authority. They are obligated at that time to include all parties to the transaction. The tax issues related to the indirect transfer of shares by foreign investors evidently cannot be ignored by the parties of the transaction.

In practice, the transferee generally will agree to deduct withholding tax from the consideration in the transaction document in order to avoid their risk. They will also defer the payment of the amount in equivalent of the withholding tax until the transferor provides proof of duty paid, compelling the transferor to report the relevant taxes as per the announcement.

Domestic founders

Indirect share transfers by domestic founders lack applicable tax rules such as the notice or announcement. The legislation applicable to cases where Cayman Islands company shares held beneficially by founders through, e.g., a British Virgin Islands company are indirectly transferred are the Individual Income Tax Law and its implementing regulations, as revised in 2011, and the Notice from the State Administration of Taxation on Several Issues Involving the Collection of Individual Income Tax on Foreign Earnings and Provisional Measures for the Administration of Individual Income Tax Collection on Foreign Earnings issued in 1994.

In 2014, Nanjing municipal tax authorities stipulated that transferors of the indirect transfer pay individual income tax at rate of 20% in accordance with the Individual Income Tax Law provisions on the resident taxpayer’s obligation of tax payment for proceeds resulting from transfer of domestic or foreign property.

It should be noted that SAT’s Notice on Several Issues Involving the Collection of Personal Income Tax on Foreign Earnings provides that a domestic employer can only withhold the personal income tax of a Chinese taxpayer who is working outside the country when the employer is a mainland Chinese company, enterprise, or other economic organization or government office and the employee has been sent to work outside the country. Taxpayers who have obtained foreign income and lack withholding agents or tax collectors shall file and pay tax themselves.

The remittance of foreign currency proceeds resulting from offshore share transfers by domestic founders must be registered as per the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) Notice on Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Residents to Engage in Financing and in Return Investment via Overseas Special Purpose Companies. SAFE may require that a tax return or proof of duty paid be submitted at the time of registration as well.

Conclusion

Parties to a VIE exit transaction should give Chinese tax issues their full consideration when structuring the transaction and formulating its terms. Parties to the transaction should consult with legal and tax counsel to ensure that the transaction is completed smoothly and that interests of all parties are maximized. ■

作者：百宸律师事务所律师邓华

Amy Deng Hua is an attorney at law of PacGate Law Group.

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