China reduces penalties on certain tax violations

• Published date: 07 August 2021
• Subject Matter: International Law, International Trade & Investment
• Law Firm: R&P China Lawyers
• Author: Mr Maarten Roos and Kathleen Cao

In the Announcement of the State Taxation Administration [2021] No. 6 issued on 31 March, China's tax office tried to make the country's tax system a little friendlier. As part of the 2021 "Spring Wind Campaign - Making Tax Easy for Taxpayers" and following initiatives of the State Council (China's chief administrative authority), the new rules introduce a list of tax offences which will be exempt from administrative penalties if:

• the offence was committed for the first time;
• the harmful consequences are minor; and
• the offence is corrected voluntarily either before being discovered, or upon discovery if within the time limit prescribed by the tax office.

The main significance of the Announcement is to give local tax offices more discretion to not issue administrative penalties. However, this applies only if the offence has not resulted in the avoidance of evasion of taxes (in that case, late fees and fines will continue to apply).

Therefore, international companies that invest in China should focus on setting up compliance systems to ensure that taxes are fully paid, for example with the help of a corporate service provider or law firm.

The list of offences in the Announcement, by the taxpayer :

1. Failure to report information on all of its bank accounts to tax authorities
2. Failure to establish or retain account books or retain accounting vouchers or any relevant information
3. Failure to timely file a tax return or make any other submission for tax payment
4. Failure to timely...