Before you start

A work permit and residence permit
An employment contract showing your salary structure
Records of days spent inside and outside China, kept contemporaneously
Details of any foreign income and of any tax treaty between China and your home country

Step-by-step

1
Establish your residence status by counting days
An individual who has no domicile in China but is present for 183 days or more in a calendar year is a tax resident for that year, taxed on China-sourced income and — subject to the six-year rule — potentially on worldwide income. Below 183 days you are a non-resident taxed on China-sourced income only. Count carefully: partial days count as full days under the rules for this test.
OnlineWho: You
2
Understand the six-year rule and how the clock resets
Worldwide income becomes taxable only from the seventh consecutive year in which you are resident for 183 days or more, and the count resets if in any year you spend fewer than 183 days in China or you take a single trip abroad of more than 30 consecutive days. A well-planned trip is the difference between China taxing your foreign investment income and not. Diarise this from your first year, not your fifth.
OnlineWho: You
3
Choose between expatriate fringe benefits and itemised deductions
Foreign nationals may take either the preferential tax-exempt treatment of certain employer-provided benefits — housing rent, children's education, language training, meals, laundry, relocation, business travel and home leave — or the standard special additional deductions available to Chinese taxpayers. Not both. The choice is made annually and cannot be changed mid-year, and for anyone with a large housing allowance the expatriate route is usually far better.
Via employerWho: YouAt the start of each tax year
4
Check the current expiry of the expatriate benefits policy
This preferential treatment has been given a sunset date and then extended repeatedly — the most recent extension runs it to 31 December 2027. It is one of the most-extended concessions in the Chinese tax code and also one of the most likely to be extended again, but do not assume: confirm the current position each year with your employer's tax adviser.
Via employerWho: You
5
Complete the annual reconciliation between March and June
Resident taxpayers with comprehensive income reconcile the previous calendar year through the Individual Income Tax app or the tax bureau, claiming deductions and settling any difference. Employers often walk staff through it; the obligation is yours.
Mobile appWho: You1 March – 30 June
6
Settle everything before you leave China
Departing residents should file a final settlement and obtain clearance. Unresolved tax is a problem for exit formalities, for remitting savings abroad, and for any future work permit application in China.
In personWho: YouBefore departure

Documents you’ll need

Passport with all entry and exit stamps — your day count evidence
Employment contract and monthly payslips
Withholding statements from the employer
Receipts for benefits claimed under the expatriate regime, especially rental invoices (fāpiào)
Tax residence certificate from your home country, where a treaty applies

Things most newcomers don’t know

The six-year clock resets with one trip abroad of more than thirty consecutive days, and almost nobody plans it.

China taxes a non-domiciled resident's worldwide income only from the seventh consecutive year of 183-day residence. The count resets if any year falls below 183 days, or if you take a single absence of more than 30 consecutive days in a year. A long-planned trip in year five or six is therefore worth real money to anyone with overseas investments, property or a foreign business interest. Because the rule is invisible until it bites, people discover it in year seven when it is too late.

Source: State Taxation Administration

You must choose between the expatriate fringe benefits and the standard itemised deductions, once a year.

Foreign nationals can take either the tax-exempt treatment of employer-provided housing, children's education, language training, meals, laundry, relocation, business travel and home leave, or the special additional deductions Chinese taxpayers use for housing, education and elder care. The election is annual and locked for the year. For anyone whose package includes a substantial housing or school allowance, the expatriate route is usually worth considerably more — but it requires proper invoices, which have to be collected as you go.

Source: State Taxation Administration

The expatriate benefits concession has a sunset date that has been moved repeatedly — check it, do not assume it.

The policy was originally due to end in 2021, was extended to the end of 2023 by MOF and STA Announcement [2023] No. 29, and that announcement pushed it to 31 December 2027. Each extension has arrived close to the deadline. Treating it as permanent is unwise and treating a lapsed extension as still current is worse; ask your employer's tax adviser what the position is for the current year rather than relying on any written guide, including this one.

Source: Ministry of Finance and State Taxation Administration Announcement [2023] No. 29

Keep every rental fāpiào if you are claiming the housing benefit.

The expatriate housing exemption requires genuine invoices — the official tax-registered fāpiào, not a receipt or a bank transfer record. Chinese landlords frequently do not issue one by default, and obtaining it may involve going to the tax office and paying a small levy. This is worth negotiating into the lease at signing. People who claim the benefit without invoices and are then asked for them lose the exemption retroactively.

Source: State Taxation Administration

Common mistakes to avoid

Not tracking days in and out of China from your first year.
Reaching year seven without ever having taken a 30-day absence.
Choosing itemised deductions by default when the expatriate benefits are worth more.
Claiming the housing exemption without collecting rental fāpiào.
Leaving China without a final settlement and then trying to remit savings.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.