China has changed its tax laws! Now, foreigners will be under more scrutiny to pay their fair share of taxes. Overseas earnings will be tracked in China. You will need Tax Documents to get your Work Permit.
Image: https://cn.wsj.com/articles/CT-FIN-20180122110141
Getting a work permit in China requires many documents and missing any of them will stop your application process. Taxes are going to be increasingly part of your approval and reapproval process. China is going to track you and your bank accounts around the world. This will be used to collect taxes, in partnerships with, most likely, your own home government.
Changes went down last August 2018 and will be affecting taxes this year. Foreigners who have domicile and are working in China for 183 days, for instance, will now fall within Chinese tax law.
This means that you are a Chinese tax resident, if you continuously stay in China for 6 years (from 2019, records before 2019 will not be valid for the Six-Year Tax Rule) without a leaving China that meets the requirements of tax exemption for overseas income, you can be taxed on all income you make around the world and not just in China. Many companies have paid workers 2 wages for in China and outside of China, to avoid taxes.
Click to review: Updated Tax Rules for Expats in China!
There are more deductions that may or not apply to you as a foreigner. There are additional tax deductions that include caring for the elderly, children education, continued education, medical expenses for serious illness, housing loan interest, and/or housing rent. These are all about being a responsible person and putting more pressure on citizens to care for their elderly parents rather than massive state programs. This is very similar to the direction of Singapore’s deductions.
There are basically 4 ways to check your taxes and deductions.
•Employer
o Not full or proper
•Tax hall ARM (Automated Report Machine)
o Use your passport to get one printed
o Legal Document with a Red Stamp
•Website (For Shanghai Only)
o Need to go to tax hall to get a registration number
o https://gr.tax.sh.gov.cn/webchart
•Alipay
o No red stamp
1st
Employer
Your employer can provide you with something that you can use for your work permit, however, it can not be used for renewal.
2nd
Tax Bureau Hall
Going to the Tax Bureau Hall will get you the full proper document printed out with the red stamp. This will have everything you need for any legal proceedings or for getting your work permit.
Using an Automated Report Machine (ARM), you can apply for a registration code to use online and get your documents printed out.
Here is the formal tax report:
Image: http://cq.sina.cn/news/2018-04-09/detail-ifyvtmxe4686124.d.html?oid=11&vt=4
3rd
Website (for Shanghai only)
Visit https://gr.tax.sh.gov.cn/webchart
To register for a new account on the platform, we suggest foreigners register via Alipay Account or “Registration Code”.
- Apply for a “Registration Code” in the local tax bureau (suggested way for foreigners).
- “Registration Code” can be applied from the tax bureau hall for foreigners.
- After you register and log in, click “Individual Income Tax Report Application” (“个人所得税纳税清单查询和申请”)
- You will see your tax records here with all the data.
- Click on the “Tax List and Report Application” (“申请纳税清单”). The report will be sent to your verified email.
Register- Fill in Personal Infos- Check Tax List
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You will eventually get a report like the following. It can also be used for your work permit application.
http://shanghai.51hicheng.com/5709
4th
Alipay
Residents in Shanghai can check their tax record by using their Alipay account. Residents in other cities might only be able to check the tax deduction. The most direct and simple way to see your tax report or check tax deduction is to use Alipay. You can use this to check your information as needed and make sure there are no issues.
- Click on “City Service” in Alipay APP
- Choose “government affairs”(政务）
- Click “Tax Hall”(税务大厅）under the section of “Tax Affairs”(税务）
- You’ll see the homepage of the tax system