Taiwanese commodities imported by a local market are exempt from consumption tax in the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone in Fujian province, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) announced recently.

GAC said in a notice that all Taiwan-imported goods for two duty-free markets, one in Xiamen and the other in Pingtan, will no longer need to pay the consumption tax.

In addition, some 760,000 yuan ($124,000) in consumption tax accumulated at the duty-free Taiwan Commodity Market in Pingtan in the past five months (since its inauguration) were returned to the local merchants.

The preferential tax policy was, in fact, stipulated in a comprehensive development plan approved by the State Council in 2011, but was not implemented until recently due to various reasons, Zhou Junguang, head of Pingtan Customs, explained.

The policy will save a big chunk of money for merchants at the market, and will also benefit the patrons who can buy the commodities at a much lower price, he added.

“Take the white liquor for example. It is exempt from the 13 to 14 percent of tax, which means a merchant pays 1,300 to 1,400 yuan less in consumption tax for every 10,000 yuan’s worth of white liquor.”

“The move will strengthen the competitiveness of the market, and will entice more customers with cheaper products,” he said.