Individual income tax for foreigners in China: who files and when

You are a resident taxpayer in China if you stayed 183 days or more in a calendar year. Nationality does not matter. Residents with salary income may have to file an annual return between 1 March and 30 June of the following year.

Resident or non-resident

The Individual Income Tax Law counts a person as a resident individual if they have a domicile in China, or have no domicile but stayed in China 183 days or more in a tax year. Someone with no domicile who stayed fewer than 183 days is a non-resident individual. The tax year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.

Residents pay tax on income from China and from abroad. Non-residents pay tax on income from China.

How the tax is worked out

For a resident, comprehensive income is the year's income minus CNY 60,000 and minus special deductions, special additional deductions and other deductions the law allows. The rate for comprehensive income runs from 3% to 45% in steps. This guide does not reproduce the rate table; the table is attached to the law on the tax administration's site.

Do you have to file

You do not have to file if tax was withheld during the year and one of these applies: you owe extra tax but the year's income is under the set amount, you owe extra tax but the amount is under the set amount, the tax withheld matches the tax due, or you qualify for a refund and do not ask for it.

You must file if tax withheld is more than the tax due and you want a refund, if tax withheld is less than the tax due and no exemption above applies, or if income was left out or reported under the wrong category.

The set amounts come from the tax administration's yearly announcement. For tax year 2023 they were CNY 120,000 of income and CNY 400 of tax. Look up the announcement for the year you are filing.

When

The window is 1 March to 30 June of the year after the income year. For tax year 2025 it runs from 1 March to 30 June 2026. People filing from 1 to 20 March can reserve a time in the Individual Income Tax app from 25 February. From 21 March to 30 June you can file without a reservation.

If you have no domicile in China and leave before the window opens, you can file before you leave.

How to file and pay

There are three routes: file yourself, have your employer file for you, or hire a tax agent or another person. The Individual Income Tax app and website come first; filing by post or at a tax service hall is also possible.

A refund needs a bank account opened in China. A balance can be paid through online banking, a tax service hall, a bank counter or a non-bank payment institution.

Check with the tax bureau

This guide covers the general rules. How your own income is classified, and how a non-resident's salary is taxed, depends on your contract and your days in China. Ask the tax service hall of the Haikou or Sanya tax bureau before you file.

Sources are listed below with the date each page was opened.