A Study on the Influence of Replacing Business Tax with Value－added Tax on Financial Performance of Listed Companies in Construction Industry in China

[Purpose] This paper mainly studies the impact of replacing business tax with value－added tax in the construction industry on the financial performance of listed companies, focusing on the analysis of the impact of Chinese tax reform on financial performance indicators such as profitability, operation ability and solvency of listed companies in the construction industry. [Methodology] In 2012 a pilot reform to replace business tax with value－added tax was launched in Shanghai in China, helping to reduce double taxation, reduce the burden on enterprises and optimize the tax structure. [Findings] The total business tax revenue of these four industries accounts for more than two thirds of total business tax revenue in China. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the impact of replacing business tax with VAT in these four industries on listed companies. This paper mainly studies listed companies in the construction industry, mainly studying the impact of replacing business tax with value－added tax on the financial performance of listed companies in the construction industry. In this paper, paired sample T－test and multiple linear regression analysis are mainly used to analyze this problem. The analysis results show that the profitability, operating capacity and short－term solvency of listed companies in the construction industry all decline after replacing the business tax with a value－added tax, while the long－term solvency does not change significantly. [Implications] It can be said that the reform of replacing business tax with value－added tax is the most important reform in Chinese tax field in the past 10 years, so it has also been widely concerned by the academic circle. On May 1, 2016, construction industry, real estate industry, financial industry and life service industry in China began a large－scale tax reform to replace business tax with value－added tax, and since then, value－ added tax has been fully covered in all industries in China. In view of this situation, this paper proposes that relevant companies should take measures to deal with the impact of replacing business tax with value－added tax on their companies.