BEIJING - China is preparing to extend value-added tax (VAT) reforms to the rail transportation, postal and telecommunications sectors.

A related plan is likely to come out at the end of this year or early next year, Minister of Finance Lou Jiwei and head of the State Administration of Taxation Wang Jun said in an interview Tuesday.

In an effort to avoid double taxation on businesses, the government introduced a pilot plan that replaces the business tax with a value-added duty that is charged only on the added value of each link in the production chain.

By the end of February, the plan had eased taxes by more than 55 billion yuan ($8.8 billion) for businesses in nine regions that are experimenting with the new practice, while small taxpayers there saw an average cut of 40 percent, Wang said.