The Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, or China's Cabinet, on Wednesday asked for feedback from the public regarding a temporary regulation on tonnage tax for ships.

According to the rule, which was submitted by the Ministry of Finance and the General Administration of Customs, ten types of ships will be exempt from tonnage taxes. These include non-powered boats, fishing boats, military ships, government ships and ships that have a tonnage tax that is below 50 yuan (7.6 U.S. dollars).

Tonnage tax for tugboats and non-powered barges would also be cut in half, according to the proposed regulation. The amount of tax will be subject to the capacity of a ship and the time limit a taxpayer chooses when applying for the ship's tonnage tax license.

Ships entering China's ports from overseas would have to pay the tax in accordance with regulations, and the captain of a ship is responsible for paying the taxes.

The regulation stipulates that ships that do not apply for a tonnage tax license, nor submit their license and other certificates and pay proper taxes will be fined anywhere between 2,000 to 30,000 yuan.

The public can voice their opinions by sending mail or by logging on to www.chinalaw.gov.cn before March 11.

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