State Taxation Administration Announcement No. 4 of 2025

In order to better serve the high-standard opening-up and further facilitate taxpayers’ access to treaty benefits and cross-border business operations, in accordance with Tax Collection and Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China and its Implementation Rules, Enterprise Income Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China and its Implementation Regulations, Individual Income Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China and its Implementation Regulations and other relevant regulations, matters with respect to the Certificate of Tax Residency (hereinafter referred to as the Certificate, see Annex 1) are hereby announced as follows:

1. Enterprises or individuals (hereinafter collectively referred to as the Applicants) may apply to the tax authorities in charge for the issuance of the Certificate for any calendar year in which they qualify as Chinese tax residents.

2. Domestic and overseas branches of Chinese resident enterprises, individual businesses registered within China, individually owned enterprises registered within China, and partnerships registered within China are not eligible to apply for the issuance of the Certificate. However, they may proceed as follows:

(1) Domestic and overseas branches of the Chinese resident enterprise shall have their Chinese resident enterprise’s head office apply to the head office’s tax authority in charge for the issuance of the Certificate.

(2) Individual businesses registered within China shall have their Chinese resident owners apply to the tax authority in charge where the individual business registered within China is managed and operated for the issuance of the Certificate.

(3) Individually owned enterprises registered within China shall have their Chinese resident investors apply to the tax authority in charge where the individually owned enterprise registered within China is managed and operated for the issuance of the Certificate.

(4) Partnerships registered within China shall have their Chinese resident partners apply to the Chinese resident partners’ tax authority in charge for the issuance of the Certificate.

3. Applicants applying for the issuance of the Certificate shall submit the following documents to the corresponding tax authorities in charge: 

(1) The application form for the Certificate of Tax Residency (see Annex 2);

(2) The following documents based on different application purposes:

a. For treaty purposes, the applicant shall submit documents pertaining to the treaty benefits-related income, including but not limited to contracts, agreements, board resolutions or shareholders’ meeting resolutions, relevant payment receipts, and other supporting documents.

The treaty refers to the inter-governmental agreements signed by the Government of the People’s Republic of China, including the double taxation agreements (hereinafter referred to as tax treaties) and international transportation agreements, among other intergovernmental agreements. International transportation agreements include aviation agreements, maritime transport agreements, road transport agreements, motor vehicle transport agreements, mutual exemption agreements for international transportation income taxes, or exchanges of letters, and other agreements concerning international transportation signed by the Government of the People’s Republic of China. Enjoying treaty benefits refers to enjoying tax treaties and tax provisions of intergovernmental agreements such as international transportation agreements. For those enjoying the benefits of the double taxation arrangements signed between the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or Macau Special Administrative Region, the above regulations shall be followed.

b. For non-treaty purposes, the applicant shall submit documents that can prove the authenticity of the application purpose, including but not limited to official documents issued by government regulatory authorities requiring the applicant to provide the Certificate, relevant legal instruments, and other documents substantiating the authenticity of the application purpose.

(3) For individuals, including the circumstances mentioned in Items (2) to (4) of Article 2 of this Announcement, the following documents shall be provided: 

a. For individuals who are domiciled in China, documents of habitually residing in China due to household registration, family or economic interests shall be provided, including but not limited to identity information and descriptions of the residence situation;

b. For individuals who are not domiciled in China but has resided in China for aggregate days within a tax year that meet the relevant regulations for resident individuals, documents of actual residence time in China shall be provided, including but not limited to entry and exit information.

(4) Where the applicant is the Chinese head office of a tax resident enterprise and requires the Certificate to reflect its legal relationship with domestic and overseas branches, it shall submit the registration documents of the head office and its branch offices.

(5) When applying for the Certificate under Items 2 to 4 of Article 2 of this Announcement, where the applicant is the Chinese resident owner and requires the Certificate to reflect its legal relationship with individual businesses registered within China, or where the applicant is the Chinese resident investor and requires the Certificate to reflect its legal relationship with individually owned enterprises registered within China, or where the applicant is the Chinese resident partner and requires the Certificate to reflect its legal relationship with partnerships registered within China, they shall submit the corresponding registration documents.

For the documents mentioned in Item (1) of this Article, the applicant shall submit the original. For the documents mentioned in Items (2) to (5) of this Article, the applicant shall submit either the original or a corresponding copy. If a copy is submitted, it shall be marked with “consistent with the original” and the location of the original, stamped with the applicant’s seal or signed by the applicant. If the tax authority in charge requires verification of the original, the original shall be presented for verification. If the original document is in a foreign language, a Chinese translation in the same format shall be submitted simultaneously. The applicant shall be responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the Chinese translation, and shall affix the seal or sign it.

4.Where the documents submitted by the applicant are complete, the tax authority in charge shall process the application in accordance with the relevant regulations. Where the submitted documents are incomplete, the tax authority in charge shall not accept the application and shall inform the applicant of all the contents that needs to be corrected on a one-off basis.

5. The tax authority in charge shall determine the applicant’s tax resident status in accordance with Enterprise Income Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China and its Implementation Regulations, Individual Income Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China and its Implementation Regulations and other relevant regulations.

6. Where the tax authority in charge is able to independently determine the applicant’s tax resident status, it shall complete the procedure within 7 working days from the date of acceptance of the application by either issuing the Certificate affixed with an official seal or providing written notification to the applicant stating the reasons for refusal to issue the Certificate.

Where the tax authority in charge is unable to independently determine the applicant’s tax resident status, it shall refer the matter to its superior tax authority for adjudication and may, where necessary, require the applicant to supplement documents.

7. Where the other party’s competent authority has specific requirements for the format for the Certificate, the applicant shall provide a written explanation and the format of the Certificate. The tax authority in charge may handle it in accordance with the aforementioned provisions.

8. This Announcement shall enter into force from April 1, 2025. Applications for the issuance of the Certificate submitted after April 1, 2025 shall be subject to the provisions of this Announcement. Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Matters With Respect to the Issuance of the Certificate of Tax Residency (State Taxation Administration Announcement No. 40 of 2016) and Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Adjusting Matters With Respect to the Certificate of Tax Residency (State Taxation Administration Announcement No. 17 of 2019) shall be repealed simultaneously.

It is hereby announced.

Annexes:

1. Certificate of Tax Residency

2. Application Form for the Certificate of Tax Residency

State Taxation Administration

January 26, 2025

All information in this document is authentic in Chinese. English is provided for reference only. In case of any discrepancy, the Chinese version shall prevail.