BEIJING: China announced retroactive adjustments in reference prices that are used as a base for tax rebates for gas importers, a policy that started in 2011 to give a respite on taxes to gas buyers. To meet a surge of demand spurred by Beijing’s aggressive gasification campaign, China’s imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) soared by 46 percent last year, and the nation overtook South Korea as the world’s second-largest buyer after Japan. Reference prices for liquefied natural gas will be set at 26.64 yuan ($4.21) for each Joule (GL), retroactive from Oct. 1 of last year, and pipeline gas at 0.94 yuan per cubic metres, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance. Between July and September last year, LNG reference prices were set at 27.49 yuan per GL and pipeline gas at 0.97 yuan per cubic metre. Importers, predominately China’s state-run oil majors, can claim rebates in value-added tax for the difference in value between the import cost and the reference prices, meaning the lower the reference prices the higher the rebates. Companies are still suffering big losses in imports, both of pipeline and LNG imports. So the lower reference prices mean the government is offering bigger financial support,” said an official with a state major involved in the gas import business.
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