On 11 June 2014, the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China ("PRC" or "China") handed down its ruling in the case of Sino-environment Technology Group Limited ("Sino-environment") v Thumb Env-Tech Group (Fujian) Co., Ltd ("Thumb").
On March 7, 2014, the State Council released its Opinion on Further Optimizing the Market Environment for Corporate Merger and Restructuring (Guo Fa [2014] No. 14, “Circular 14”), to improve the institutional mechanisms and policies that encourage corporate mergers and restructuring. Circular 14 gives overall guidance on special treatments for merger and corporate restructuring transactions with regard to enterprise income tax (“EIT”), land value-added tax, value-added tax and business tax.
公司解散后,清算的进行必须要以公司相关财务资料的完备为前提,清算义务人负有确保公司相关财务资料完备齐全的义务。如果因公司财务资料的缺失而导致清算无法进行,致使债权无法受偿的,清算义务人须就此承担连带赔偿责任。
【案例】
甲公司(深圳某服装贸易有限公司)与乙公司(深圳某服装生产厂)于2010年1月1日签订了《服装购买合同》,约定甲公司向乙公司购买一批服装,价款为15万元人民币。在 2010年4月1日之前乙公司须向甲公司交付服装,2010年5月1日之前甲公司须向乙公司支付15万元的价款。后乙公司如期交付了货物,但是甲公司未在合同约定的期限内支付价款。乙公司在2010年5月3号向甲公司发出了《付款催告通知》,要求甲公司在3个月之内还款。针对这笔款项,甲公司于5月5日向乙公司制定了还款计划书,根据该还款计划书:从2010年5月6日起,公司将根据自身的资金情况,每月尽可能多的向乙公司还款。还款计划书出具后,甲公司在5月6日向乙公司支付了5000元,之后就再未履行还款义务。乙公司于2010年8月20日获悉甲公司已于4天前解散。邹某、金某、朱某是甲公司的股东,且邹某为了逃避债务,故意隐藏公司财物清单,导致甲公司无法进行清算。乙公司求偿无望,欲通过诉讼手段解决争议。
此时,乙公司的救济途径有哪些?
【本文观点】
实践中,往往会出现在执行过程中,作为被执行人的公司注销的情形。注销是《公司法》规定的使公司实体灭失的一种方式,注销后,该实体将不再存在,依照相关程序法的规定,作为被执行人的公司灭失后,将依法终结诉讼。负债公司多以注销当幌子,进行逃避到期债务之实。在作为被执行人的公司注销,而公司账面仍有剩余财产的情况下,债权人应如何使自己的到期合法债权得到清偿?下面请看一则案例。
【案例】
李某、刘某、朱某原是北京XX有限公司员工。因公司无故拖欠工资,三人向北京市东城区劳动争议仲裁委员会提起仲裁,要求XX公司支付工资及补偿金。仲裁委于2008年8月1日裁决XX公司支付债权人双倍工资、加班费、补偿金,其中应当支付李某2.2余万元、支付刘某2.1余万元、支付朱某1.6余万元。
该裁决生效后,三债权人于2008年8月22日申请法院强制执行。在执行过程中发现XX公司已于2008年8月25日向工商部门申请注销,并提交了清算报告,三位股东正是清算组成员。清算报告中称没有未完结的债权债务关系。公司账面剩余财产为7.5万元,三位股东就出资额对该剩余财产进行了分配。工商部门遂于2008年9月20日核准了清算组注销XX公司的申请,导致法院无法强制执行。
很显然,在上述案例中,债权人可以要求三位股东承担清偿责任。理由如下:
On April 30, 2009, the Ministry of Finance (“MOF”) and the State Administration of Taxation (“SAT”) jointly issued Caishui [2009] No. 59 (“Circular 59”) to set out the guidelines on the income tax treatment of enterprise reorganizations (please refer to our China Tax Bulletin May 2009 for more information about Circular 59).
OVERVIEW
This note outlines the various formal insolvency proceedings available in the People's Republic of China (excluding for purposes of this guide, the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao and the territory of Taiwan) ("PRC").
《国家税务总局关于纳税人资产重组有关增值税问题的公告》(02/18/2011)
The State Administration of Taxation released the Announcement onIssues Concerning Value-Added Tax Relevant to Taxpayers’ Assets Restructuring (the “VAT Announcement”) on February 18, 2011. The effective date of the Announcement is March 1, 2011.
China’s corporate income tax (« CIT ») regime effective from January 1, 2008 explicitly requires corporate restructuring transactions to be effected at fair value so that any gain or loss shall be recognised for tax purpose at the time when the transaction takes place. The Chinese State Administration of Taxation (« SAT ») has released several tax circulars in recent years to address the detailed CIT treatments (e.g. the availability of tax deferral treatment for a corporate restructuring meeting certain prescribed criteria), the documentation and procedural requirements, etc.
Norwest Holdings Pte Ltd (in Liquidation) v Newport Mining Ltd [2011] SGCA 42
Responsive to issues faced with difficulty in obtaining financing by businesses (particularly small- to medium-size enterprises) due to the global financial crisis, State Administration of Industry and Commence officially released Administrative Measures for Corporate Debt-for-Equity Swap Registration (the “Measures”) recently, which formalizes regulation of debt-for-equity swap on the national level. The Measures will be put into implementation on January 1, 2012.