How many good policies are reduced to painting cakes! These four types of "zombie policies" make enterprises complain.
Obviously, it is a good policy, but it has not been implemented for many years, so enterprises can’t enjoy the policy dividend and there is no way to complain … … According to a survey conducted by reporters in the past half month, in recent years, a number of good policies have been issued at the national level to support the development of the real economy and reduce the cost of enterprises. Although some policies have been issued for many years, they have been in a dormant state due to "congenital deficiency" and "acquired disorder" and become "zombie policies".
The policy has not landed for 15 years, and the on-site inquiry was "kicked"
A large trading company in Chongqing imports clothing, bags and other commodities from European countries every year. According to the person in charge of the enterprise, in the process of international trade transactions, buyers and sellers often realize goods transactions through third-party service providers, and give a certain percentage of commissions to third-party services.
Recently, the person in charge of the enterprise accidentally discovered that the "Regulations on Import and Export Tariffs of People’s Republic of China (PRC)" promulgated as early as 2003 stipulated that the purchase commission was not included in the duty-paid price.
"For many years, our purchase commission has been paying customs duties. According to this policy, the purchase commission should be exempt from customs duties. If it is implemented, it will greatly reduce the burden on enterprises." The person in charge of the enterprise calculated an account: the enterprise plans to import about 170 million yuan of goods this year, and the purchase commission is as high as 34 million yuan. It is estimated that this part will pay customs duties of 11.22 million yuan.
However, because there is no clear explanation for the purchase commission, no amount standard, no column in the goods declaration form, and no specific department is responsible for the determination and management of the commission, this policy has not been implemented so far.
The reporter recently followed the person in charge of the enterprise to Chongqing Jiangbei Airport for customs consultation. The staff first made it clear that the agency fee generated by the enterprise when purchasing goods overseas must be included in the duty-paid price. After the person in charge of the enterprise took out the relevant laws and regulations, the staff member said that the purchase commission refers to the agency fee generated by the agent buying the goods on its behalf, while the company is equivalent to buying the goods directly from the agent, and the agency fee generated cannot be recognized as the purchase commission.
When the reporter continued to ask if there were any laws, regulations or implementation rules to clearly explain the concept of purchase commission, the staff said: "There is no explanation and standard at present, mainly relying on manual judgment."
Not only that, the "Import Goods Declaration Form" does not set a column for filling in the commission, and enterprises do not know how to fill in it. In this regard, the staff member said: "There has never been a column of purchase commission on the customs declaration, and I am not clear about how to fill it in."
Previously, the person in charge of the enterprise also consulted the customs of Shenzhen, Xi ‘an and other cities by telephone, and the answers were varied. Some people thought that the commission must be included in the duty-paid price, some said that it would be studied before it could be determined, and some even didn’t know what the purchase commission was.
In order to find out the specific explanation and amount standard of purchase commission, the person in charge of the enterprise went to many departments for consultation. The foreign exchange administration department said that the examination and approval of the commission and the determination of the proportion shall be checked and approved by the bank itself; The bank’s reply must first be determined by the tax authorities whether this part of the expenses should be taxed before it can be determined whether it is approved as a commission; The tax department replied that the commission of import and export business belongs to the category of tariffs, and tariffs are not under the control of the tax department.
The person in charge of the enterprise was frustrated after being kicked a ball: "This is obviously a good policy to reduce the burden on the enterprise. It is determined that the purchase commission should at least check the signing method, payment method and delivery method of the business contract between the enterprise and the agent. Now there are no implementation rules, and it depends on the mouth. No matter how good the policy is, it can only be displayed."
Four types of "zombie policies" make enterprises cry.
In fact, a good policy that cannot be implemented is not a case, and enterprises frequently encounter it in their operations.
One is the "castle in the air" type. Such policies are like castles in the sky that can only be looked up to. For example, the financial director of a large machinery manufacturing enterprise said that many years ago, the state had issued a policy to further liberalize the financing channels of joint ventures abroad, which would help reduce the financing costs of enterprises. However, there are no implementation rules for how to link the policies of RMB fund pool, foreign currency fund pool and corporate taxation, and enterprises are afraid to "eat crabs" for fear of stepping on the thunder of tax evasion.
The second is the "gild the lily" type. Such policies are difficult to implement because of some redundant or unrealistic regulations. A few years ago, many ministries and commissions jointly issued a policy to liberalize the restrictions on drug technology transfer, aiming at encouraging pharmaceutical enterprises to merge and reorganize and revitalize their stocks, but there were problems in the implementation of the policy.
A pharmaceutical company in a western city reached a purchase agreement with a pharmaceutical company in a coastal area to transfer 16 drug approval numbers to local production. The price was negotiated and the down payment was paid, but this policy requires that the transfer of drug approval numbers must be stamped by the transfer place. In the process of handling, the local government departments just refused to let go: "It is ok to invest, but not to take things away."
After going back and forth for nearly a year, the company found a number of provincial leaders to coordinate and barely solved it. The person in charge of the enterprise said: "More than 20 local pharmaceutical companies have signed drug approval transfer agreements with foreign companies. Except for us, other transfer plans have failed because the other government has not released them."
The third type is "fighting with each other". Such policies cannot be implemented because they contradict other policies. In recent years, the state has repeatedly issued policies to encourage social capital to run hospitals. An enterprise wants to run a private hospital in a provincial capital city in the west, and the contract has been signed, and the land is also promising. When going to the Land and Resources Bureau to apply for a land use permit, it was told that the medical and health land needs to be licensed by the hospital first, and then it was told to the health department: "You must have a land use permit before you can apply for a hospital license", and finally the enterprise had to give up.
The fourth type is "too poor to love the rich". The original intention of such policies is to solve the urgent needs of enterprises, but in the process of implementation, they set a "high threshold" to discourage enterprises that really need policy support.
When an enterprise invested in a new project, it was short of funds. It was learned that two policy banks had set up special construction funds with low interest rates, and they quickly submitted the declaration procedures. After being approved for 30 million yuan, the bank proposed that the local government must provide guarantees, and the enterprise would use the factory building for counter-guarantee, and the funds would have to enter in the form of equity. The enterprise could not meet the conditions and was forced to give up.
"What I can’t figure out is that it is precisely because of the lack of collateral that some emerging industrial projects are difficult to finance. Now that the central government has set up a policy special fund at a discount, why do you still require real estate mortgage?" The person in charge of the company said.
"If a good policy cannot be implemented, it is better not to introduce it."
"It is better not to introduce a good policy but not to implement it." Many business leaders believe that the "zombie policy" makes enterprises distrust the government and affects their investment confidence.
Some business leaders and experts and scholars said that the "zombie policy" not only harms the interests of enterprises, but also undermines the confidence and enthusiasm of enterprises and destroys the business environment. The reason why a policy is formulated is to solve a problem or to achieve a goal. If it becomes a "zombie policy", it will not only be difficult to realize the original intention of policy makers and undermine their authority or credibility, but also aggravate existing problems and even breed new ones.
Corporate leaders, experts and scholars suggest that the governance of "zombie policy" requires policy makers to do more research and demonstration at the beginning of policy planning, so that the policy can be more targeted and operational, and it can be used and used. It also requires policy makers to look back more and find problems and correct them in time.
At the same time, governments at all levels should clean up and rectify policies that have become "zombies", abolish policies that cannot be implemented because they are divorced from reality, and promote the implementation of policies that lack supporting policies and implementation rules by formulating implementation rules, issuing detailed explanations and standards, and clearly leading management departments. It is necessary to carry forward the spirit of nailing nails, promote the implementation and implementation of policies, and establish an accountability mechanism to force responsible departments to strictly perform their duties, so that good policies can truly benefit enterprises and promote economic development. (Half-monthly talk with reporter Li Jianchang, Zhang Qin and Zhao Yufei)
Comment on Half-monthly Talk: Don’t Let the "Zombie Policy" Dissolve the Reform Dividend
Half-monthly talk with reporter Li Jianchang, Zhang Qin and Zhao Yufei
After several days of "experiential" interviews, it is hard for reporters to forget two contrasting expressions: one is that entrepreneurs are happy to find the good policies promulgated by the state and "meet the rain after a long drought"; The other is that entrepreneurs have been "kicked" by many departments and found that these good policies are just "the moon in the water and flowers in the mirror", but they can’t reach them. Their faces are full of helplessness and confusion.
An entrepreneur said bitterly, "In front of us are glass doors, spring doors and revolving doors ‘ Triple door ’ With the iceberg of the market, the mountain of financing and the volcano of transformation on its head ‘ Three big mountains ’ . The central government clearly saw the problems of enterprises, but how did the good policies become ‘ Zombies ’ ?”
The reason why some policies are lip service and even become "zombie policies" lies in the fact that some policies are "congenitally deficient". For example, policies lack sufficient investigation and argumentation at the beginning of formulation, which looks beautiful, but they can only be lip service, drawing on paper and hanging on the wall. On the other hand, some policies are "acquired maladjustment", lacking relevant supporting policies and detailed rules for implementation, coupled with ineffective implementation and inadequate management and supervision by relevant departments, thus becoming a "zombie policy" that is illusory and anticlimactic.
Behind the "zombie policy" is lazy politics and lazy politics. No matter whether policy formulation is based on "slapping one’s head" without in-depth investigation, or "formulating policies for the sake of coping with the spirit of the central government", the root causes are bureaucracy, formalism and departmentalism, regardless of tracking the implementation, and some governments and departments discount and make flexibility in implementing central policies.
Sail against the current, support hard, and retreat with a sigh of relief. At present, China’s reform has entered a deep-water period, which is bottomless and untouchable. Deepening the reform in an all-round way will broaden the horizon, and taking a step back will give up all previous efforts. At this time, it is especially necessary to be alert to institutional and institutional obstacles to eliminate the reform dividend.
The prevalence of "zombie policy" is alarming. There is an image metaphor in the business community: "The central government gave the enterprise a bottle of glucose water, but it got stuck in the process of transportation. The enterprise saw the glucose water, but did not receive nutrients."
Awakening the sleeping "zombie policy" is not only the aspiration of entrepreneurs, but also an inevitable requirement for deepening the reform. This requires governments at all levels to exert their "power of the wild", sort out and identify the crux of the "zombie policy" in various fields, and treat it with the right medicine. In-depth research when formulating policies, we should be anxious about the urgent needs of the central government and enterprises, and pay close attention to implementation and accountability when implementing policies, so that every policy can be completed well and done well. (Half-monthly talk with reporter Li Jianchang, Zhang Qin and Zhao Yufei)