Annual and transition report of foreign private issuers pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Income Taxes

v3.22.1
Income Taxes
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes

(14)

INCOME TAXES

Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands

Under the current laws of the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, the Group is not subject to any income tax in these jurisdictions.

Hong Kong

Xing Wei did not derive any income that is subject to Hong Kong profits tax for the taxable years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021. Accordingly, no provision for Hong Kong profits tax was required.

People’s Republic of China

The Company’s consolidated PRC entities file separate income tax returns.

Under the Enterprise Income Tax Law (“EIT Law”), the statutory income tax rate is 25% effective from January 1, 2008. Entities that qualify as “high-and-new technology enterprises eligible for key support from the State” (“HNTE”) are entitled to a preferential income tax rate of 15%. If an HNTE enterprise no longer satisfies the related accreditation criteria, its certificate will be cancelled and it will cease to be entitled to the related tax incentives.

The Company’s PRC entities are subject to income tax at 25%, unless otherwise specified.

In December 2008, ATA Education received approval from the tax authority that it qualified as an HNTE. The certificate entitled ATA Education to the preferential income tax rate of 15% effective retroactively from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2010. In October 2011, ATA Education received approval from the tax authority on its renewal as an HNTE which entitled it to the preferential income tax rate of 15% effective retroactively from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013. In October 2014, ATA Education received approval from the tax authority on its renewal as an HNTE which entitled it to the preferential income tax rate of 15% effective retroactively from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2016. In October 2017, ATA Education received approval from the tax authority on its renewal as an HNTE which entitled it to the preferential income tax rate of 15% effective retroactively from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019. In December 2020, ATA Education received approval from the tax authority on its renewal as an HNTE which entitled it to the preferential income tax rate of 15% effective retroactively from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022.

In December 2009, Muhua Shangce received approval from the tax authority that it qualified as an HNTE. The certificate entitled it to the preferential income tax rate of 15% effective retroactively from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2011. In July 2012, Muhua Shangce received approval from the tax authority on its renewal as an HNTE which entitled it to the preferential income tax rate of 15% effective retroactively from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2014. In November 2015, Muhua Shangce received approval from the tax authority on its renewal as an HNTE which entitled it to the preferential income tax rate of 15% effective retroactively from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017. In October 2018, Muhua Shangce received approval from the tax authority on its renewal as an HNTE which entitled it to the preferential income tax rate of 15% effective retroactively from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020. Muhua Shangce was no longer consolidated into the Group after the disposal of its entire equity interests on June 2, 2021. See note 15.

The EIT Law and its relevant regulations impose a withholding tax at 10% for earnings generated beginning January 1, 2008, unless reduced by a tax treaty or agreement, for dividends distributed by a PRC-resident enterprise to its immediate holding company outside the PRC. Undistributed earnings generated prior to January 1, 2008 are exempt from withholding tax. As of December 31, 2020 and 2021, the Company has not provided for income taxes on earnings of RMB 2,270,928 and RMB 2,820,818 respectively, generated by its PRC consolidated entities, as the Company plans to reinvest these earnings indefinitely in the PRC. The unrecognized deferred income tax liability related to these earnings was RMB 227,093 and RMB 282,082, respectively as of December 31, 2020 and 2021.

Loss from continuing operations before income taxes were generated in the following jurisdictions:

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

2019

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

RMB

 

 

RMB

 

 

RMB

Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands

 

 

(23,094,955)

 

 

(15,482,426)

 

 

(18,488,181)

PRC

 

 

(118,145,074)

 

 

(95,351,791)

 

 

(19,442,469)

Hong Kong

 

 

(21,586)

 

 

(19,367)

 

 

(19,044)

Loss before continuing operations before income taxes

 

 

(141,261,615)

 

 

(110,853,584)

 

 

(37,949,694)

 

Income tax expense (benefit) recognized in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) consists of the following:

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

2019

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

RMB

 

 

RMB

 

 

RMB

PRC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current income tax expense

 

 

905,078

 

 

 

14,402

 

 

22,781

Deferred income tax benefit

 

 

(8,054,197)

 

 

 

(10,283,238)

 

 

(1,562,358)

Total income tax benefit

 

 

(7,149,119)

 

 

 

(10,268,836)

 

 

(1,539,577)

 

The actual income tax expense (benefit) reported in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) differs from the respective amount computed by applying the PRC statutory income tax rate of 25% for each of the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021 to earnings before income taxes due to the following:

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

2019

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

RMB

 

 

RMB

 

 

RMB

Computed “expected” income tax expenses (benefit)

 

(35,315,404)

 

 

(27,713,394)

 

 

(9,487,423)

Increase in valuation allowance

 

23,171,671

 

 

11,770,037

 

 

10,531,372

Entities not subject to income tax

 

4,576,771

 

 

3,445,048

 

 

1,691,406

Non-deductible expenses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entertainment

 

394,380

 

 

226,312

 

 

280,436

Share-based compensation

 

1,202,364

 

 

444,196

 

 

259,993

Other non-deductible expenses

 

306,314

 

 

1,634,539

 

 

3,927,212

Additional deduction of research and development costs

 

(240,404)

 

 

(288,502)

 

 

(120,598)

Disposal of Equity Interests in Muhua Shangce

 

 

 

 

 

(8,385,539)

Other

 

(1,244,811)

 

 

212,928

 

 

(236,436)

Actual income tax benefit

 

(7,149,119)

 

 

(10,268,836)

 

 

(1,539,577)

 

The applicable PRC statutory income tax rate is used since the Group’s taxable income is generated in the PRC.

The tax effects of the Group’s temporary differences that give rise to significant portions of the deferred income tax assets and liabilities are as follows:

 

 

 

December 31,

2020

 

 

December 31,

2021

 

 

RMB

 

 

RMB

Deferred income tax assets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tax loss carry forwards

 

 

37,387,150

 

 

27,926,708

Impairment loss of long-term investments

 

 

9,023,946

 

 

10,523,946

Lease liability

 

 

10,244,488

 

 

10,179,317

Impairment loss of intangible assets and other non-current assets

 

 

3,013,216

 

 

945,446

Provision for loan receivable and other receivables

 

 

1,887,015

 

 

1,887,015

Accrued expenses and other payables

 

 

4,010,281

 

 

2,818,170

Property and equipment, net

 

 

890,374

 

 

81,512

Donation

 

 

5,268,750

 

 

7,500,000

Total gross deferred income tax assets

 

 

71,725,220

 

 

61,862,114

Less: valuation allowance

 

 

(56,172,945)

 

 

(48,897,848)

Total deferred income tax assets, net

 

 

15,552,275

 

 

12,964,266

Deferred income tax liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intangible assets

 

 

27,646,528

 

 

23,338,194

Right-of-use assets

 

 

9,891,733

 

 

9,838,270

Deferred revenues

 

 

1,090,988

 

 

Contract cost assets

 

 

3,416,705

 

 

4,719,124

Total gross deferred income tax liabilities

 

 

42,045,954

 

 

37,895,588

Net deferred income tax assets

 

 

2,491,792

 

 

Net deferred income tax liabilities

 

 

28,985,472

 

 

24,931,322

 

The movements of the valuation allowance are as follows:

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

2019

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

RMB

 

 

RMB

 

 

RMB

Balance at the beginning of the period

 

 

21,275,591

 

 

 

44,713,570

 

 

56,172,945

Additions

 

 

23,437,979

 

 

 

11,770,037

 

 

10,531,372

Reduction as a result of disposal of subsidiaries

 

 

 

 

 

(310,662)

 

 

(17,806,469)

Balance at the end of the period

 

 

44,713,570

 

 

 

56,172,945

 

 

48,897,848

 

As of December 31, 2021, the valuation allowance of RMB 48,897,848 was related to the deferred income tax assets of PRC entities which were in loss position.

As of December 31, 2021, the Group had tax loss carry forwards for PRC income tax purpose of RMB 111,706,832 of which RMB 13,047, RMB 4,158,531, RMB 10,189,769, RMB 6,212,547, RMB 3,692,800, RMB 18,959,483, nil , RMB 28,305,140, RMB 23,594,429, and RMB 16,581,086 will expire if unused by December 31, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030 and 2031, respectively.

For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021, the Group had no unrecognized tax benefits, and thus no related interest and penalties were recorded. Also, the Group does not expect that the amount of unrecognized tax benefits will significantly increase within the next twelve months.

According to the PRC Tax Administration and Collection Law, the statute of limitation is three years if the underpayment of taxes is due to computational errors made by the taxpayer or the withholding agent. The statute of limitation is extended to five years under special circumstances where the underpayment of taxes is more than RMB 100,000. In the case of transfer pricing issues, the statute of limitation is ten years. There is no statute of limitation in the case of tax evasion. The income tax return of each of the Company’s PRC consolidated entities is subject to examination by the relevant tax authorities for the calendar tax years beginning 2017.