We manage your company’s full tax lifecycle — from initial registration and taxpayer status selection through to ongoing filing management, tax record updates, and deregistration. Every change to your company or personnel that touches the tax system, we handle it.
Tax registration is the foundation of everything your China entity does. An outdated tax record — wrong address, wrong legal representative, wrong scope — creates filing failures, banking problems, and personal tax complications that are slow and painful to unwind.
Tax registration follows business licence issuance and must be completed before your company can issue invoices, file returns, or open a tax-linked bank account. We handle the full registration process and make the taxpayer status decision with you upfront — because changing it later adds complexity.
The choice made at registration determines your invoicing rights, VAT deduction eligibility, and monthly reporting complexity. We advise on the right choice for your business model — for a full breakdown, see our Entity Structure & Tax Status guide →
Tax registration completed across all applicable tax types. Taxpayer status confirmed and documented. Tax control device active. Your company is ready to issue invoices and submit filings from day one.
Companies registered as small-scale taxpayers can apply to upgrade to general taxpayer status — either because annual revenue has reached the RMB 5 million threshold, or because the business requires the ability to issue VAT special invoices to clients. We manage the full application process.
General taxpayer status confirmed by the tax bureau. Tax control device upgraded. New status effective from the following month after approval. All filing procedures updated accordingly.
Timing matters: Once upgraded to general taxpayer status, reverting to small-scale is not straightforward. We advise on whether an upgrade makes sense for your current business model before submitting the application.
Any change to your company’s registered information — address, legal representative, business scope — must be mirrored in the tax system promptly. Outdated tax records create filing failures and compliance gaps that are not always immediately visible but surface at the worst moments.
Tax registration must be updated after any registered address change — same-district and cross-district moves both require tax bureau notification. See Corporate Changes →
New legal representative details must be updated in the tax system. Mismatched records between SAMR and the tax bureau cause filing authentication failures.
When the business scope on the business licence is amended, the tax bureau registration must be updated to match — particularly where new activities carry different tax treatment.
Ownership changes that affect the company’s FIE status or applicable tax treaties must be reflected in the tax registration without delay.
Tax bureau records updated and confirmed. All changes synchronised before the next filing deadline. Written confirmation of updated tax registration details archived for your records.
We manage all statutory tax filings across the full calendar year — monthly, quarterly, and annual. Every filing is prepared from the accounting records we maintain, submitted on time, and confirmed back to you with the official receipt. For the complete breakdown of each tax type and what our filing service covers, see our Accounting & Bookkeeping service page →
Need the annual audit coordinated alongside CIT settlement? The two are closely linked — audit results feed directly into the annual CIT return. See our Annual Audit service →
Tax deregistration must be completed before a company can proceed with full business deregistration at SAMR. It is the first and most complex step in the company closure process — all outstanding tax liabilities must be cleared, all filings brought current, and the tax bureau’s formal sign-off obtained before the SAMR deregistration can begin.
Tax clearance certificate (清税证明) issued by the tax bureau — confirming all obligations are settled and the tax registration is formally closed. This certificate is a mandatory prerequisite for the SAMR company deregistration filing.
Company deregistration is significantly more complex than registration. Tax deregistration alone can take several months, particularly where historical filings are incomplete or liabilities are disputed. We strongly recommend consulting with us before making the decision to close — early planning makes the process considerably more manageable. Full company deregistration guidance, including liquidation audit requirements, is covered on our Company Deregistration page →
Yes. Filing obligations run from the date of tax registration regardless of revenue or activity. A company with no transactions must still submit nil declarations each month. Missing a nil filing carries the same penalty as missing a substantive filing. We handle nil filings as part of our standard monthly service — nothing is skipped.
Small-scale taxpayers file a simplified VAT return with a single collection rate (3%) and no input deduction calculation. General taxpayers file a more detailed return that nets output VAT against input VAT deductions, with different rates applying to different transaction types. General taxpayer filings require more supporting documentation and tighter reconciliation with the invoice records — which is why we integrate the filing directly with the bookkeeping records we maintain.
Yes. The standard CIT rate is 25%, but several preferential rates apply to qualifying companies. High and New Technology Enterprises (HNTE / 高新技术企业) qualify for a 15% rate. Small and low-profit enterprises (小型微利企业) meeting specific criteria qualify for reduced rates on a portion of their income. Certain free trade zone and development zone incentives also apply reduced rates or tax holidays. We assess your eligibility for applicable incentives as part of the annual CIT settlement process.
No — they are separate processes, but closely related. The annual audit is conducted by an independent CPA firm and produces a signed financial statement. The CIT annual settlement is a tax bureau filing that uses the audited financial statements as its primary input. The audit must typically be completed before the settlement can be finalised. We coordinate both processes together so neither delays the other — for details on the audit itself, see our Annual Audit page →
Yes — promptly. The new passport number must be updated in the tax system before the next filing cycle. If the name on the passport has also changed, the tax record and any linked personal bank account must reflect the new name exactly. We handle passport and personnel updates as part of our tax information maintenance service — contact us as soon as a change occurs to avoid any filing disruption.
We handle registration, status management, every monthly and annual filing, and tax record updates — so your company’s tax position is always current and correct.