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Tax on golf clubs should be decreased, says official

By Chen Xiangfeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-13 10:31

A chief official from the State General Administration of Sport (SGAS) has called for a decrease of the tax on golf clubs to allow more people to take part in the sport, which will return to the Olympics in 2016.

"Golf is widely seen as game for entertainment and thus the business tax rate is 22 per cent for golf clubs," said Cui Dalin, deputy director of the SGAS.

"Adding the land-use tax, a golf club has to pay almost a 30 percent tax rate. That will not boost golf's popularity here."

Cui's remarks came during a press conference on Tuesday to launch the Orient China Ladies Open, a China LPGA tour event in Xiamen.

It was a strong signal that golf will gain more support from the government.

Golf has long been labeled a game for the wealthy and one of the main reasons for that is that golf clubs have to set high fees to cover their taxes.

"We are trying to discuss with the tax department the possibility of decreasing the tax rate," Cui said.

He said the rate had already declined in a few provinces, like Guangdong and Liaoning, and he believes more will follow.

"The business tax rate for golf clubs in Liaoning has dropped to 7 percent. It's good news for the clubs and the people who are interested in the game."

State-support system

Cui also confirmed golf will be run under the state-support system, which translates into long-term training and financial support from the government.

"The state-support system has proved a huge success over the past 60 years. Golf is an Olympic sport now and we will make full use of the system to develop the game.

"First, we want Chinese to play at the 2016 Games and then we will aim for good results at following Olympics."

Cui said China still lags far behind the world's top golfing nations and has to pay extra attention to the development of young talent.

"If we want to have a bright future, we have to start the work at the grassroots level.

"We will set up more golf competitions for young people and also send some of the youngsters abroad."

Women's hopefuls

China already has some promising women's golfers playing overseas.

LPGA rising teenager Feng Shanshan, four-time JLPGA winner Zhang Na and another JLPGA player, Ye Liying, have pulled off some surprizing performances over the past few years.

But so far they have had to rely on prizemoney and family support to cover their costs.

Cui said there will be more financial support from the government once training camps have been put together, at home and abroad.

The proposed development of golf is particularly encouraging for caddies, most of whom are girls.

"China has about 500 golf clubs and every club has about 100 caddies and 99 percent of them are girls," said TK Pen, CEO of Orient Golf Group. "It's a huge base for our future in the women's game. I hope they can get more chances to practise and play."