The State Administration of Taxation (SAT) said Tuesday that tax payers in quake-hit localities could postpone their declarations.

A powerful quake rocked Wenchuan County, 159 kilometers northwest of the Sichuan provincial capital city of Chengdu last Monday. The death toll in the 8.0-magnitude earthquake has risen to more than 40,000.

The policy affects the hardest-hit jurisdictions of Sichuan, Chongqing, Gansu, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Qinghai and Hubei.

"If they are unable to make their payments because of the quake, they can postpone declarations," said the SAT in a notice, adding that the extension was for no more than three months.

The specific periods would be decided by provincial tax agencies on the basis of actual conditions and tax payers need not pay overdue fines.

If tax payers are still unable to pay after the extension periods, local tax agencies should report the cases to the SAT.

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2008)