Foreigners income tax and salary deductions
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FACTORS THAT DETERMINE TAX LIABILITY FOR EXPATRIATES
Whether a foreigner is liable to pay IIT in China, and the extent to which he or she is liable, depends upon:
How long the individual has been living in China;
What is the source of the individual’s income; and
Who bears the salary cost of the individual.
The first factor, the duration of stay can be determined by tax treaties between China and the home country of the expatriate. There are four different situations as shown in the accompanying chart.
The position in a company also determines the taxation as an expatriate holding a senior executive position is taxed a little differently. They get taxed the moment they enter China on both locally-obtained income and on the Chinese-income derived from abroad. As for the foreign-income received in China and the worldwide income, it follows the same taxation as the ones explained above.
EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEE SHARES OF THE SALARY DEDUCTION
The employer’s and employee’s share depends on the city and the kind of insurance the expatriate or the entity is subjected to.
Social insurance ratesvalid as at October 01, 2013
The social insurance basis and housing fund basis may be updated for several cities each year but in different periods. For instance, in Shanghai, the social insurance basis is updated each year in April and housing fund basis is updated in July.
Please be advised that the housing fund contribution is not applicable to foreigners regardless of the city where they are residing.
INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX FILING PROCEDURE
The expatriates must file tax returns on a monthly basis. If the annual income exceeds RMB 120,000, then it is mandatory to do an annual tax filling as well.
There are different ways of paying and reporting IIT. The expatriate may use a withholding agent such as the enterprise that pays salary to the foreign individual is responsible for withholding the IIT, deducting it from the income. The payment must be done within 15 days after the monthly payment.
Also, there are five circumstances, required by the tax regulation in China, in which tax payers have to self-declare their yearly income:
Income over RMB 120,000
Receiving income from two or several local employers
Receiving income outside China
Receiving income without withholding agent
Other cases that are to be cleared by State Council
When exceeding 120 000 RMB, it is mandatory to declare the taxes at the end of the year, most importantly, within three months. If the situation is to be found in the four last categories, then taxes must be paid monthly after receiving the salary.
The onus to file monthly and yearly IIT returns on time is on the individual. In case of any evasion or violation, the taxpayer may be subject to fine (between RMB 2,000 and RMB 10,000) and even imprisonment, in grave cases. When there is a suspicion of tax evasion, the suspect may be restricted to leave the country.
TAXABLE INCOME
Note that it is important to provide tax authorities with the right invoices proving the income to be exempted from taxation. Besides, the general tax rate of non-employment benefits is an interval from 5% to 35% that depends on the source of income.
INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX (IIT) rates
The taxable income is the amount of salary exceeds RMB4,800 for foreign employees (and RMB3,500 for Chinese employees).
For a foreigner earning a salary of RMB12,000, the taxable income is:
RMB12,000-RMB4,800 = RMB7,200 and the tax bracket will be 20% on the RMB7,200.
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