China compliance calendar

Recurring obligations, with sources

Each deadline cites the official text that states it and the date we last verified it.

增值税申报 — monthly VAT return and payment

增值税 (VAT) · Monthly · return filing

12 published dates, 20 Jan 2026 to 15 Dec 2026 Verified 2026-10-21

Who files

General taxpayers (一般纳税人) — businesses with annual taxable sales above RMB 5 million or registered as general taxpayers — and any other taxpayer the tax office assigns a one-month period

Notes

The return and the payment are one step, and each date covers the month before it: the October date, for example, settles September. By law the deadline is 15 days after the month ends, but a weekend or a public holiday pushes it later, and the National Day week moved October 2026's to the 26th; January, April and May were likewise extended by their holidays. The 2027 dates are not yet published: the tax office sets them each December, once the State Council has fixed the year's public holidays. City maintenance and construction tax and the education surcharges are paid on the same return. File even for a month with nothing to declare; tax paid late costs 0.05% of the unpaid amount for every day it is overdue.

Source

国家税务总局办公厅关于明确2026年度申报纳税期限的通知（税总办征科函〔2025〕64号）— STA notice fixing the 2026 filing and payment deadlines State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局政策法规库)

See the source text

“八、10月1日至7日放假7天，申报纳税期限顺延至10月26日。”

Open full size Captured from State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局政策法规库) on 2026-10-14

增值税申报 — quarterly VAT return and payment

增值税 (VAT) · Quarterly · return filing

5 published dates, 20 Jan 2026 to 15 Jan 2027 Verified 2026-10-21

Who files

Small-scale taxpayers (小规模纳税人, annual taxable sales not over RMB 5 million) and, among general taxpayers, banks, finance companies, trust companies and credit cooperatives, and any other taxpayers the STA and the Ministry of Finance designate — where the tax office assigns them a one-quarter period

Notes

Quarterly filing is permitted rather than automatic: the tax office decides each taxpayer's period. Each date is for the quarter just ended, so the October date settles July to September; in 2026 it fell on 26 October, eleven days after the usual 15th, because of the National Day holiday. The return for October to December is due in January 2027. The tax office has not yet published that date (it normally does so in December), so the calendar shows 15 January 2027, the deadline set by law: holidays can only push the real date later, never earlier. A small-scale taxpayer with no VAT to pay for the quarter still files.

Source

国家税务总局办公厅关于明确2026年度申报纳税期限的通知（税总办征科函〔2025〕64号）— STA notice fixing the 2026 filing and payment deadlines State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局政策法规库)

See the source text

“五、4月4日至6日放假3天，申报纳税期限顺延至4月20日。”

Open full size Captured from State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局政策法规库) on 2026-10-14

消费税申报 — consumption tax return and payment

消费税 (consumption tax) · Monthly · return filing

12 published dates, 20 Jan 2026 to 15 Dec 2026 Verified 2026-10-21

Who files

Producers and contract processors of goods subject to consumption tax (tobacco, alcohol, high-end cosmetics, jewellery, fireworks, refined oil, motor vehicles and the other listed items), and the businesses taxed at a later stage — retailers of gold, silver and platinum jewellery and diamonds, retailers of super-luxury cars and wholesalers of cigarettes — on a monthly period; quarterly filers, where the tax office sets one, use the January, April, July and October dates

Notes

Consumption tax runs on the same published calendar as VAT: the 16 November 2026 date settles October's sales, and the extended dates apply to it just as they do to VAT. Many producers owe both and settle them together, with the city maintenance tax and education surcharges calculated on the two combined. Consumption tax on imported goods is paid to customs at the border, not on this return.

Source

国家税务总局办公厅关于明确2026年度申报纳税期限的通知（税总办征科函〔2025〕64号）— STA notice fixing the 2026 filing and payment deadlines State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局政策法规库)

See the source text

“现将实行每月或者每季度期满后15日内申报纳税的各税种2026年度具体申报纳税期限明确如下：”

Open full size Captured from State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局政策法规库) on 2026-10-14

代扣代缴自然人增值税 — monthly withholding return for payments to individuals

增值税 (VAT) — withholding on resident individuals · Monthly · return filing

15 Dec 2026 Verified 2026-10-21

Who files

Businesses and other units in China that pay resident individuals for R&D, software, design, consulting, radio, film and TV production, cultural or education services, from 1 November 2026; individuals handled under the platform-economy reporting rules are excluded

Notes

New from 1 November 2026 under MOF/STA Announcement 2026 No. 28: when a business pays a resident individual for these services it withholds the VAT and surcharges at the time of payment, then files a withholding return and pays over the month's total within 15 days from the start of the next month. The first one, for November payments, is due Tuesday 15 December 2026. A return is still owed for an individual from whom nothing was withheld — because the payment was under the per-transaction threshold, exempt, or already paid by the individual.

Source

境内单位代扣代缴自然人增值税管理办法 — 第五条 (Measures attached to MOF/STA Announcement 2026 No. 28) Ministry of Finance / State Taxation Administration (via the Hainan Provincial Tax Service)

See the source text

“扣缴义务人解缴税款的计税期间为一个月，应当自发生应税交易次月一日起十五日内向主管税务机关办理扣缴申报，并缴纳税款。”

Open full size Captured from Ministry of Finance / State Taxation Administration (via the Hainan Provincial Tax Service) on 2026-10-14

代扣代缴增值税 — buyer's withholding of VAT on payments to foreign suppliers

增值税 (VAT) — withholding by the purchaser · Monthly · return filing

12 published dates, 20 Jan 2026 to 15 Dec 2026 Verified 2026-10-21

Who files

Buyers in China — businesses and other purchasers — paying a foreign unit or individual for a taxable transaction in China, unless the foreign seller has appointed a domestic agent to file and pay; buyers on a quarterly period use the January, April, July and October dates

Notes

When a foreign business with no domestic agent sells into China, the Chinese buyer is responsible for the VAT: it withholds the tax from the payment and reports and pays it over on its own filing deadline, on the same published dates as its VAT return. The duty to withhold arises on the same day as the seller's VAT liability, and that day decides which month's return the tax belongs to: tax withheld in September 2026 was due by 26 October 2026. Dates for 2027 are not yet published.

Source

中华人民共和国增值税法 — 第三十条第三款 (VAT Law, Art. 30 para 3; purchaser as withholding agent: Art. 15) State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局政策法规库)

See the source text

“扣缴义务人解缴税款的计税期间和申报纳税期限，依照前两款规定执行。”

Open full size Captured from State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局政策法规库) on 2026-10-14

进口环节增值税 — import VAT and consumption tax payment to customs

增值税、消费税 (import VAT and consumption tax, collected by customs) · One-off · payment

within 15 days of completion of the customs import declaration Verified 2026-10-14

Who files

Importers of goods into mainland China, paying the import VAT (and any consumption tax) that customs collects on each declaration

Notes

Customs, not the tax office, collects VAT and consumption tax on imports, and the money is due within 15 days of the day the import declaration is completed. Importers that meet customs' conditions and lodge a guarantee can instead pay a whole month's import taxes together, by the end of the fifth working day of the following month.

Source

中华人民共和国关税法 — 第四十三条 (Customs Tariff Law, Art. 43; applied to import-stage taxes by Art. 70) State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局政策法规库)

See the source text

“进出口货物的纳税人、扣缴义务人应当自完成申报之日起十五日内缴纳税款；符合海关规定条件并提供担保的，可以于次月第五个工作日结束前汇总缴纳税款。”

Open full size Captured from State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局政策法规库) on 2026-10-14

税务登记 — tax registration after receiving the business licence

All taxes, VAT included (税务登记) · One-off · registration

within 30 days of receipt of the business licence Verified 2026-10-14

Who files

Enterprises, branches and places of business set up in another locality, individual businesses (个体工商户) and public institutions engaged in business; there is no VAT registration threshold

Notes

A new business must apply for tax registration within 30 days of receiving its business licence. Because the licence now carries the unified social credit code and doubles as the tax registration certificate, in practice this means confirming your registration details with the tax office within that window. Every business is a VAT taxpayer from the start; the RMB 5 million line decides only whether it is a small-scale or a general taxpayer.

Source

中华人民共和国税收征收管理法 — 第十五条 (Tax Collection and Administration Law, Art. 15) State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局政策法规库)

See the source text

“自领取营业执照之日起三十日内，持有关证件，向税务机关申报办理税务登记。”

Open full size Captured from State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局政策法规库) on 2026-10-14

一般纳税人登记 — general-taxpayer registration after sales pass RMB 5 million

增值税 (VAT) · One-off · registration

within 15 days of the end of the month in which annual taxable sales first exceed RMB 5 million Verified 2026-10-14

Who files

Small-scale taxpayers whose taxable sales over any run of up to 12 consecutive months or four quarters exceed RMB 5 million, other than individuals and non-business units that may elect to stay small-scale

Notes

Register as a general taxpayer by the filing deadline of the month after you cross RMB 5 million — usually the 15th, later in holiday months. Cross the line in November 2026, for example, and you register by the December filing deadline. If the line is crossed only because sales were corrected, picked up in a risk review or added by an audit, you have 10 working days from that adjustment. Status runs from the start of the period in which the line was crossed, so returns already filed as small-scale must be corrected, and a business that misses the deadline is treated as a general taxpayer anyway from five working days after it.

Source

国家税务总局关于增值税一般纳税人登记管理有关事项的公告 (STA Announcement 2026 No. 2) — 第五条 State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局政策法规库)

See the source text

“（二）其他年应征增值税销售额超过规定标准的，应在超过规定标准的次月申报纳税期限内。”

Open full size Captured from State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局政策法规库) on 2026-10-14

Mainland China only; Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan run separate systems. VAT, consumption tax and the surcharges that ride on them are filed and paid together, in one step, within 15 days of the end of each month or quarter. The legal deadline is the 15th, but it moves later when the 15th is a weekend or holiday, or when a public holiday of three days or more falls in the first half of the month, and the tax office publishes each year's actual dates every December. The 2026 dates below are those published dates. The 2027 dates are not out yet; they normally appear in December, after the State Council announces the year's public holidays. When a foreign business sells into China, the Chinese buyer withholds the VAT and pays it on its own return dates, unless the foreign seller appoints a domestic agent to file and pay for it. Corporate income tax, individual income tax, stamp duty and social insurance are outside this calendar.

“税收征管法及本细则所规定期限的最后一日是法定休假日的，以休假日期满的次日为期限的最后一日；在期限内有连续３日以上法定休假日的，按休假日天数顺延。”

New China rules taking effect

Confirmed changes from the weekly scan — each links to its full record with the official source.

• 1 Nov 2026 China creates VAT withholding for domestic payers of resident individuals Domestic payers of Chinese resident individuals for R&D, software, design, consulting, broadcast/film/TV production, cultural or education services must stand…
• 1 Jan 2027 China abolishes the VAT export refund on battery products from 1 January 2027 Battery exporters: price and cash-flow models should assume no export VAT refund for exports declared from 1 January 2027.
• 1 Apr 2027 China cuts the VAT export refund rate for new energy vehicles from 13% to 9% from 1 April 2027 NEV exporters: model the 4-point lower refund for shipments declared on/after 1 Apr 2027.

About this calendar