Many people assume that once they move abroad and spend fewer than 183 days a year in China, they stop being Chinese tax residents. That is not how the law works. Under the Individual Income Tax (IIT) Law, there are two routes to residency: having a domicile (住所) in China, or staying in China for a cumulative 183 days or more in a tax year. Meet either test and you are a resident individual, taxed in China on both domestic and foreign income.
At the same time, the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) has banks around the world automatically report non-residents’ accounts to their country of tax residence. China has exchanged data since September 2018, and in 2025–2026 Chinese tax authorities have been reminding residents to declare foreign income they missed. If you plan to emigrate, settle two questions before you leave: which country are you a tax resident of, and has all your income already been taxed? This guide covers the law, how CRS works and the compliance steps before departure. It is not tax advice; for your own situation, consult a licensed tax adviser or certified accountant.
How Chinese tax residency is determined: domicile and 183 days
Article 1 of the IIT Law says that an individual who has a domicile in China, or who has no domicile but stays in China for a cumulative 183 days or more in a tax year, is a resident individual and pays tax on income from both inside and outside China. Non-residents are taxed only on China-source income.
The key word is “domicile”. Article 2 of the Implementing Regulations defines it as habitually residing in China because of household registration (hukou), family or economic interests. For Chinese citizens, then, 183 days is not the only test: if your hukou is still in China, your spouse and children live there and your main assets and income are there, the tax authorities may treat you as domiciled in China even if you spend most of the year abroad.
The 183-day test mainly applies to people without a domicile. Under MOF and STA Announcement No. 34 of 2019, a day counts only if you are in China for a full 24 hours. These rules remain in force as of October 2026.
| Situation | Status | What China taxes |
|---|---|---|
| Domiciled in China (hukou, family or economic interests there; habitual residence) | Resident individual | Worldwide income |
| No domicile, 183+ days in a tax year | Resident individual | In principle worldwide income; if fewer than six consecutive such years and filed with the tax office, foreign income paid from abroad can be exempt (Regulations Art. 4) |
| No domicile, under 183 days | Non-resident individual | China-source income only |
| Resident of two countries at once | Decided by the treaty tie-breaker rules | As the treaty outcome determines |
Foreign income of residents: rates, filing window and credits
Under Article 3 of the IIT Law, comprehensive income (wages, service fees, author’s remuneration and royalties) is taxed at progressive rates of 3% to 45%; business income at 5% to 35%; and interest, dividends, rental income, property transfers and incidental income at a flat 20%.
Article 13 requires residents with foreign income to file between 1 March and 30 June of the following year. MOF and STA Announcement No. 3 of 2020 adds the details: foreign comprehensive and business income are combined with the same categories of domestic income; foreign tax already paid can be credited, but the credit limit is calculated per country or region, and any excess can be carried forward for five tax years; a credit requires a tax certificate or record issued by the foreign tax authority. If you have no employer in China, you file with the tax office where your hukou is registered or where you habitually live.
For overseas shares, media reports say the authorities allow gains and losses to be offset within the same tax year but not carried across years (Beijing News via China News Service, January 2026). For moving money out of China, see our guide to forex and cross-border transfers.
What CRS is: your overseas account data gets exchanged
CRS was developed by the OECD. China implemented it through the Administrative Measures on Due Diligence of Non-Residents’ Financial Account Information, in force since 1 July 2017: Chinese financial institutions must identify accounts held by non-residents and report the holder’s name, taxpayer ID, address, account number and balance, plus interest, dividends and proceeds from selling financial assets (China Taxation News, August 2018). According to China Daily, China completed its first outbound exchange in September 2018.
The exchange runs both ways. If you open an account with a foreign bank or broker and declare China as your tax residence, the data comes back to China; once you are tax resident elsewhere, your accounts at Chinese banks are reported to that country. According to figures published in February 2026 by an OECD Global Forum official, information on more than 171 million financial accounts worth almost EUR 13 trillion was exchanged in 2024, and 116 of 129 committed jurisdictions were exchanging at the time of writing. For the official material, see the OECD peer review of automatic exchange.
When you open an account, the bank asks for a tax residency self-certification. Filling it in truthfully is a legal obligation. Deliberately misstating your tax residency does not get you out of CRS and can lead to back taxes, late-payment surcharges and penalties.
2025–2026: authorities remind residents to declare foreign income
According to a Xinhua report (carried by Guangming Online on 16 January 2026), an STA department said that since 2025 taxpayers had been reminded to self-check income received from abroad in 2022–2024, and that anyone who had not declared foreign income as required should file corrections promptly. The report notes that under the Tax Collection Law, the authorities can recover unpaid or underpaid tax and late fees within three years, and tax evasion is dealt with according to law. Media reports say some taxpayers received text messages or phone calls, and that the authorities escalate step by step: reminder, request to correct, interview and warning, investigation, public exposure.
For anyone about to emigrate, the takeaway is simple: review your foreign income for the past few years before you leave and file any corrections, so old issues do not follow you when you open accounts or apply for status in your new country.
Tax compliance steps before you emigrate
Article 10 of the IIT Law lists cancelling Chinese hukou because of emigration as one of the cases that require a tax filing, and Article 13 requires the tax settlement to be done before the hukou is cancelled. For the hukou procedure itself, see hukou cancellation and social security. We suggest this order:
- List income and assetsWages, service fees, dividends and interest, share and property sales at home and abroad over recent years, plus tax paid
- Correct past filingsDeclare any missed foreign income via the IIT app or the Natural Person e-Tax Bureau
- Collect foreign tax proofKeep foreign tax assessments and payment records to claim foreign tax credits
- Assess your status after leavingWhere are your hukou, family, home and income? Check the tax treaty if needed
- Settle tax before hukou cancellationComplete the tax settlement with your local tax office, then cancel the hukou with the police
- Update financial institutionsGive banks and brokers in China and abroad an accurate tax residency self-certification
If you do not plan to cancel your hukou, take note: while your hukou, family and economic interests remain in China, you may still be treated as a Chinese tax resident and need to declare foreign income every year.
Resident in two countries? Treaty tie-breaker rules
In the first years after moving, your new country may treat you as resident under its law while China still considers you domiciled. The tax treaty between the two countries then decides. Taking the STA’s 2010 interpretation of the China–Singapore treaty (Guoshuifa [2010] No. 75) as an example, dual-resident individuals are tested in order: permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality; if still unresolved, the two competent authorities settle it by mutual agreement. A later test is used only if the earlier one cannot decide.
If you need to prove Chinese tax residency (for example to claim treaty benefits abroad), you can apply for a Chinese Tax Resident Certificate. Under the new announcement in force since 1 April 2025, individuals can apply entirely online through the Natural Person e-Tax Bureau or at a tax service hall; where the tax office can determine residency itself, the time limit is cut from 10 to 7 working days (as of October 2026). Rules vary widely by destination; for two popular choices see our Singapore tax guide and UAE tax guide.
Legal planning points and common myths
- Myth 1: “After six months abroad I no longer file in China.” The domicile test comes first; 183 days is only one route.
- Myth 2: “China can’t see my foreign income.” CRS covers more than a hundred jurisdictions, and the authorities can match that data against tax returns.
- Myth 3: “I’ll cancel my hukou first and deal with tax later.” The law requires settlement before cancellation; getting the order wrong creates problems.
- Good practice: keep complete foreign tax records, think about the timing of asset sales around your move, and take advice from licensed professionals in both countries beforehand.
For the full pre-departure checklist, go back to the Leaving China overview, or read the full text of the IIT Law in the STA law database.
Sources
- Individual Income Tax Law of the PRC (2018 amendment, STA law database) (accessed October 2026)
- Individual Income Tax Law of the PRC (full text, Jiangsu Tax Service) (accessed October 2026)
- Implementing Regulations of the Individual Income Tax Law (State Council Decree No. 707) (accessed October 2026)
- MOF & STA Announcement No. 34 [2019]: residence-day rules for non-domiciled individuals (accessed October 2026)
- MOF & STA Announcement No. 3 [2020]: IIT policy on foreign-source income (accessed October 2026)
- Jiangsu Tax Service: explainer on the new Chinese Tax Resident Certificate announcement (Feb 2025) (accessed October 2026)
- China Taxation News: CRS implementation and tax administration (Aug 2018) (accessed October 2026)
- China Daily bilingual: new anti-avoidance rules take effect (Sep 2018, media) (accessed October 2026)
- OECD: Peer Review of the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information 2025 Update (accessed October 2026)
- IFC Review: Where Next for the Automatic Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes? (Feb 2026, written by an OECD Global Forum official) (accessed October 2026)
- Guangming Online / Xinhua: authorities remind taxpayers to self-check foreign income of the past three years (16 Jan 2026) (accessed October 2026)
- China News Service: report on back taxes on foreign income (19 Jan 2026, media) (accessed October 2026)
- Guoshuifa [2010] No. 75: interpretation of the China–Singapore tax treaty (tie-breaker rules) (accessed October 2026)