The Impact of Tax Incentives on the Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Comparative Study Based on Industry

Tax incentive policies have been widely used as a crucial tool to promote the development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), but their effectiveness varies across different industries and policy types. This study utilizes a comprehensive panel dataset from 2015 to 2023 to investigate the impact of Value-Added Tax (VAT) and income tax incentives on the growth of SMEs in China. Through fixed effects model analysis, we find that both VAT and income tax incentives significantly enhance SMEs' sales revenue and total asset growth. However, the magnitude of these effects differs substantially across industries, with high-tech and information technology service industries benefiting the most. Our industry comparison analysis reveals that the effectiveness of tax incentives is closely related to industry-specific characteristics, such as research and development (R&D) intensity and capital requirements. These findings provide key empirical evidence for optimizing SME tax policies and suggest that a more nuanced, industry-specific approach to tax incentives is needed. This study not only contributes to the literature on SME growth and tax policy effectiveness but also offers important insights for policymakers to refine SME support systems in the context of rapid technological change and economic transformation.