The calendar
| Deadline | Filing | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly or quarterly | VAT, provisional CIT and individual income tax withholding | Tax bureau (electronic tax system) |
| Early in the year | Statutory audit of the prior year’s accounts | Licensed PRC accounting firm |
| 31 May | Annual corporate income tax reconciliation, including related-party transaction forms | Tax bureau |
| 30 June | Annual report, including the foreign-investment information report | National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System |
| By 30 September | Annual FDI filing (existing equity reporting) | Through the bank, under SAFE rules |
The financial year in China is the calendar year for every company. A foreign parent with a different year-end needs its China subsidiary to report on a calendar-year basis anyway.
The statutory audit
The Company Law requires a company’s annual financial statements to be audited by an accounting firm according to law. In practice, every WFOE and JV needs a PRC CPA audit report. Auditors check accounts kept under PRC accounting standards, so the parent’s group reporting usually needs a reconciliation.
The audit report supports:
- the CIT reconciliation
- profit repatriation: banks ask for the audit report and tax clearance before remitting dividends abroad
- capital changes, deregistration and due diligence
The SAMR annual report
Between 1 January and 30 June, each company files an annual report through the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System. It covers:
- contact details
- shareholders and capital contributions
- the number of employees
- headline financials
Foreign-invested companies also submit their foreign investment information report in the same filing. Much of the report is public, so check what you’re disclosing.
What happens if you miss it
- The company is put on the list of enterprises with abnormal operations (经营异常名录), which is visible to banks, customers and government bodies.
- Bank accounts, tenders, permits and the legal representative’s own travel and credit can be affected.
- After three years on the list, the company moves to the list of seriously illegal and dishonest enterprises, and its legal representative and responsible managers can be restricted.
Getting off the list means filing the missing reports and applying for removal. That takes weeks, so it’s better not to get on it.
Dormant companies still file
A company with no business still has to keep accounts, file zero tax returns and submit its annual report. If it won’t trade again, closing it properly is usually cheaper than years of nil filings.
Our annual compliance service runs this whole calendar, and our accounting and tax team handles the monthly filings and coordinates the audit.