Main problems in tax collection and administration at gas stations

(1) Failure to declare sales revenue and false tax data. Because gas stations operate around the clock, are widely distributed, have many purchase channels, and have large customer flows, the number of gas pumps listed on them often does not match the number reported, and it is difficult to verify actual inventory and accounts, which brings difficulties to daily tax collection and management. Some gas station stores, promotional gifts, auto parts repairs and other taxable activities do not report sales income. Some gas stations even list sales income in "accounts receivable", so the quality of tax returns cannot be guaranteed.

(2) The problem of oil sold outside the machine is serious. The main manifestation of off-machine oil sales is that after gas stations purchase refined oil, they are directly wholesaled to small gas stations, or sold directly to factories, professional fleets, and agricultural users without selling through tax-controlled refueling machines; for motorcycles, taxis, and Light oils (gasoline, diesel) for personal consumption are usually sold by scales or drums, and are not sold through gas pumps. At present, off-machine sales have become the main method of tax evasion in the gas station industry. Because it is difficult for tax authorities to control off-machine sales, a tax illegal activity, a large amount of national tax revenue is lost.

(3) There are problems with the installation and use of tax control devices. As a commodity, tax-controlled refueling machines are different from other commodities and should be regarded as special commodities. Because there are problems with its use, while affecting the interests of users, it also affects the interests of the country, causing the loss of tax revenue. First, the use and management of refueling equipment is chaotic, and the tax control equipment is inaccurate in taking data. The tax authorities are only in charge of tax collection and cannot solve the problem technically. For hardware problems that arise in the daily use of gas pumps, tax-controlled gas tank manufacturers are unable to solve them in a timely manner, causing the refueling company's refueling quantity to be inconsistent with the declared quantity. Since the price of oil products fluctuates with market demand, and the competent tax authorities cannot regularly verify the parameters of the tax control machine, the amount recorded by the tax control machine will always be less than the amount of refueling due to price fluctuations. Second, the gas station tax control management system lacks practicality in actual use, the system utilization rate is low, and it cannot fully play the role of tax control supervision. For example, regarding changes in the sales volume, amount, deduction amount, and tax status of each gas station’s refined oil products, the system cannot be used in a timely manner to form horizontal or vertical comparison information, and the required data cannot be collected. Currently, it is necessary to cooperate with the manual recording ledger to organize the system data. use.

(4) The financial system is not sound. The "Measures for the Administration of Value-Added Tax Collection at Refined Oil Retail Gas Stations" stipulates that gas stations engaged in the sale of refined oil shall be managed as general VAT taxpayers regardless of whether their annual taxable sales exceed 1.8 million yuan. Some gas stations have incomplete financial information, imperfect financial systems, and uneven financial accounting levels among financial personnel. They cannot set up account books and accurately calculate sales in accordance with the regulations for general VAT taxpayers, especially some of the original smaller gas stations. The level of financial accounting is low, and it is difficult to ensure the correct accounting of sales.

(5) Tax control supervision and daily management of tax authorities are loose. At present, the tax authorities generally do not have adequate management of refined oil retail gas stations. They have not set up a dedicated person to be responsible for the daily management and monitoring of gas stations. The tax calculation based on the data recorded by the tax control device is not perfect in some details, and cannot be calculated according to the company's timely requirements. Changes in declaration data reveal corporate tax issues. First, the management of deductions from sales volume of refined oil products is chaotic. At present, the tax authorities do not pay due attention to the approval of deduction amounts and the actual deduction situation, which leads to the phenomenon that enterprises declare the deduction amount without obtaining the corresponding approval, and the deductions greatly exceed the allowed deduction amount approved in the approval. The tax personnel who accept the declaration of refueling companies can only know the company's deduction amount based on the "deductible oil volume" reported on the company's "Gas Station Monthly Oil Sales Summary Form". The gas station tax control management system does not involve recording the company's monthly deduction amount. function, the tax office has not set up a corresponding ledger, which makes it possible for gas companies to have annual deduction amounts greater than the amount approved by the turnover tax department. Second, tax control and supervision are weak. When declaring during the tax period, the declarer only reports the "Monthly Refueling Information Detailed List of Gas Stations", "Monthly Sales Summary of Oil Products at Gas Stations", "Detailed List of Purchase, Sales and Inventory Quantities of Refined Oil" reported by the enterprise, as well as the refueling IC card and VAT declaration. The logical relationship of the data on the table is checked, and there is a lack of subsequent investigation into the phenomenon of data inconsistency, which loses the meaning of tax control management. Strict supervision of gas station accounting has resulted in some gas stations being unable to keep detailed records of on- and off-machine sales due to imperfect financial systems, resulting in inaccurate reporting data.

Suggestions for improving tax collection and administration at gas stations

From a practical point of view, the current business methods and tax collection and administration of refined oil retail gas stations have their particularities. For special problems, only Take special measures to solve it. To strengthen the collection and management of gas stations and plug loopholes in tax evasion, the author believes that the following measures should be taken.

(1) Increase publicity efforts. Some consumers neither refuse nor report to the tax authorities when companies fail to issue invoices or issue invoices with white slips. They are just looking for "benefit", which invisibly encourages the arrogance of unscrupulous owners and seriously harms national interests. Publicity efforts should be intensified to encourage taxpayers to pay taxes with integrity, enhance consumers' understanding of taxpayers' rights and obligations, and create a good tax administration atmosphere.

(2) Increase the monitoring of tax sources.

The first is to adopt the method of "measurement of sales volume at the station", sending personnel to verify the actual sales scale of gas stations on the spot, using the calculated data as a reference coefficient, and conducting comparative analysis of other gas stations to grasp the actual tax burden that gas stations should achieve. The second is to increase routine inspections of gas stations. After the tax control device has been running for a period of time, gas stations will always find ways to evade taxes. Therefore, strengthening regular tax inspections on gas stations is a traditional but not outdated means. The content includes meter reading and observation of actual sales density. After reading the meter, no record is left to the gas station. It is only handed over to the person in charge for registration and signature and then taken back. At the end of the month, it will be compared with the sales reported by the person in charge. Anyone who commits fraud will be severely punished. This approach can reduce the chances of manipulation by gas stations, thereby effectively preventing the loss of tax revenue. The third is to strictly enforce the ledger registration system and strengthen daily management. Gas stations must strictly record sales on a daily basis, maintain balances on a monthly basis, and submit accompanying documents when declaring taxes. After review, the grassroots collection authorities will enter the relevant refueling information into the gas station tax control management system.

(3) Keep abreast of tax source trends. As the domestic market price of refined oil products is in line with the international market and implements floating market prices, the price of refined oil products changes frequently. The price of oil products directly affects the data statistics of tax-controlled gas pumps. A registration and reporting system for oil price changes should be implemented at gas stations. The tax authorities issue a "price change form" to gas stations, which requires gas stations to fill in all the sales prices of the types of oil they operate at the beginning of each month. Whenever prices change within a month, they must report the prices in detail. The unit price of the tax-controlled refueling machine will be adjusted simultaneously according to the change time, oil type, and price after the change.

(4) Set up dedicated personnel and posts to take charge. For tax control IC card declaration and management of gas station enterprises, dedicated personnel should be set up to be responsible for the "Monthly Refueling Information Detailed List of Gas Stations", "Monthly Oil Sales Summary Table of Gas Stations", and "Purchase, Sales and Inventory of Refined Oil" reported by the enterprise during declaration. Check the "Quantity Detailed List" with the data on the fuel IC card and VAT return form, and conduct timely investigations into abnormal situations such as large data fluctuations and low tax burdens. Keep abreast of the company's operating conditions in daily management work, urge the company to establish and improve the daily sales ledger of gas stations in accordance with regulations, and be responsible for notifying the company to maintain tax control devices.

(5) Implement the "actual consumption method" to deduct taxes. That is, the output tax of the current month is deducted from the input tax of the sales quantity of the current month. As general taxpayers, gas stations enjoy input tax deductions. Some gas stations adopt the method of purchasing more and selling less, preventing them from generating taxes that month or even for several months to come. In order to ensure that taxes are balanced and fully deposited into the treasury, and to prevent the loss of actual generated value-added tax due to sudden closure or bankruptcy of gas stations, it is recommended that taxes be deducted monthly according to the "actual consumption method".

(6) Integrate gas station tax management with tax assessment. The VAT assessment of refined oil retail units is a special component of the tax assessment of general VAT taxpayers. The author believes that a set of tax assessment methods for refined oil retail units can be established based on the soon-to-be-launched Golden Tax Phase II value-added tax for refined oil retail units to control sales. , "Gas Station Monthly Oil Sales Summary", "Refined Oil Purchase, Sales and Inventory Quantity Detailed Table" are inconsistent with the read gas IC card and value-added tax return data, and gas stations with other tax problems are listed as the targets of this month's tax assessment , transfer to the tax assessment post for tax assessment, and implement tax audits for those with lower tax burdens than the minimum tax standard.

(7) Strengthen departmental coordination. The installation of tax control devices basically ensures that the sales volume and sales volume of gas stations are reflected. However, in order to more accurately reflect their operating conditions, it is necessary to control the import of oil products. By controlling the import customs, we can accurately understand the inventory situation and prevent tax evasion such as "off-book operations" or "loan operations". Currently, each gas station is managed by many departments (currently, taxation, industry and commerce, public security, technical supervision and other departments are responsible for inspection and management of gas stations). However, because each department operates independently, the national tax department cannot fully control the quantity of oil in the tank. and inventory status. In order to coordinate and unify the control of oil entry points and the extracorporeal circulation of oil, the author suggests that relevant departments should establish a joint agency to conduct unified management of oil tanks at gas stations.

(8) Improve a unified and standardized management system. It is recommended to formulate tax collection and management measures for the gas station industry, issue unified circulation documents, and clarify standardized operating procedures, including the installation and maintenance of tax-controlled refueling machines, the initialization of tax control devices, and the reading and receiving of data from tax information cards. Submission of tax returns and attachments, identification and deduction methods for self-use oil, oil storage, oil pouring, and oil testing, definition of tax collection methods, implementation of tax assessment and tax inspections, handling of violations at gas stations, etc. Specific assessment and accountability measures must also be formulated for the behavior of industry management personnel who falsely register changes in tax sources, falsely seal or unseal dispensers without authorization, falsely approve pouring oil, and self-test oil use.