What will China tax take from your pay?
A quick, guided estimate of China individual income tax for foreign employees. Answer a few plain questions: your salary, your days in China, your deduction route and amount, and your social insurance. The tool works out whether you are a tax resident, which brackets apply, and what you keep. Rates reflect the 2026 tax year.
A 30-second estimate for foreign employees. We handle the tax logic; you answer a few plain questions.
How the estimate is built
How the number is built
This quick estimate follows China's 2019 income-tax reform, still the law for the 2026 tax year. It first decides your residency from the days you enter: residents are taxed on worldwide income through the annual brackets, non-residents only on China-source income through the monthly brackets.
For residents it uses the deduction route you pick. The allowance route leaves your housing, education and other benefits out of taxable income. The standard-deduction route adds those benefits back but subtracts the fixed itemised deductions. Social insurance is a straight subtraction from taxable income, using the amount you enter.
This estimate covers the common employed case only. It does not model business income, dividends, foreign-source income, the six-year rule or the 90-day short-stay relief. Confirm those with a qualified adviser before you file.
The rules behind the fields
The rules this tool applies
- 183-day residency. 183 or more days in a tax year makes you a tax resident, taxed on worldwide income, with a ¥60,000 annual basic deduction. Fewer than 183 days makes you a non-resident, taxed only on China-source income, with a ¥5,000 monthly basic deduction. (Residency bands and basic deductions: Individual Income Tax Law; MoF & STA Announcement 2019 No. 35.)
- Tax-free allowances. Foreign residents may take housing, meals, laundry, relocation, business travel, home visits, language training and children's education as tax-free when paid as non-cash or reimbursed, instead of the standard special additional deductions. The choice is for the whole year. This package is extended only through 31 December 2027. (MoF & STA Announcement 2023 No. 29.)
- Standard special additional deductions. Children's education, infant care, rent or mortgage interest, elderly care, continuing education and serious illness are fixed monthly amounts any resident can claim. Housing-loan interest and rent are mutually exclusive. (State Council Decree 2018 No. 41.)
- Social insurance. Foreign employees generally join the five insurances; only the employee's own contribution is deductible. Bilateral agreements exempt some nationalities. (Social Insurance Law; deductible share per the Individual Income Tax Law.)
When not to trust this number
What the estimate leaves out
- This is the final annual figure. Employers withhold through the year by a different monthly method and settle at the annual reconciliation; your monthly take-home will differ from the monthly average shown.
- Employed expats only. This quick estimate covers a foreign employee's salary. It does not model business income, dividends, foreign-source income, the six-year rule or the 90-day short-stay relief.
- Tax treaties are not computed. China has agreements with 110-plus countries that can change the result, especially the 183-day employment article. Confirm treaty positions with an adviser.
- Rates and thresholds can change. The foreigner allowance package ends after 2027, and brackets have been revised before. Re-check before relying on a number for a future year.
This tool models the 2026 rules as written; your facts may differ, and a China tax adviser should confirm anything you act on.
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Questions people actually ask
Quick answers
How does China decide if I'm a tax resident?
China uses a 183-day test for a tax year (1 January to 31 December). Spend 183 days or more in the country and you are a tax resident, taxed on your worldwide income. Under 183 days and you are a non-resident, taxed only on income sourced in China. A day counts only if you are physically present a full 24 hours; a transit day under 24 hours does not count, which matters for people who cross the Hong Kong or Macau border weekly.
What are the 8 tax-free allowances for foreigners?
Foreign residents can choose between two sets of breaks for the whole tax year. One is the special additional deductions available to all residents (children's education, continuing education, a mortgage-interest or rent deduction, elderly care, infant care, and serious-illness costs). The other is the older foreigner package: housing, meals, laundry, relocation, business travel, home visits, language training, and children's education, which are tax-free when paid as non-cash or reimbursed. You cannot use both in the same year. The foreigner allowance package is confirmed extended only through 31 December 2027; from 2028 it is removed, and everyone uses the standard deductions.
What is the six-year rule?
This quick estimate does not compute the six-year rule; the note below is background only. A foreign resident who has been in China 183 days or more in a year for fewer than six consecutive years (counting from 2019) pays no Chinese tax on income that is sourced and paid outside China, provided they file the record with the tax office. Any single departure over 30 days resets the consecutive count. Once you hit six years, your worldwide income is fully taxable in China.
What is the 90-day rule?
This quick estimate does not compute the 90-day rule; the note below is background only. Non-residents who stay 90 days or fewer in a tax year, and whose China-source income is paid by an overseas employer and not borne by a China entity, owe no Chinese individual income tax on that income. It is the short-stay relief that lets visiting expats and short assignments arrive tax-free.
Do I pay social insurance?
Foreign employees generally join China's five social insurances (pension, medical, unemployment, work injury, maternity), and only your own contribution is deductible from taxable income. Several nationalities are exempt under bilateral totalisation agreements, and the housing fund is often optional for foreigners. Enter your actual monthly deduction; the calculator treats it as a straight reduction of taxable income.
Is this the same as my monthly withholding?
No. Employers withhold monthly using the cumulative method, which only settles at the annual reconciliation (1 March to 30 June of the following year). This calculator computes your final annual liability directly, which is what the reconciliation lands on. Your monthly take-home will differ from the monthly average shown here because withholding front-loads or smooths the tax.
Does the calculator handle tax treaties?
Not in detail. China has double-taxation agreements with more than 110 countries, and many contain a 183-day employment-income article that can exempt pay sourced outside China. Treaty positions are fact-specific, so treat the calculator's output as a baseline and confirm your treaty claim with a China tax adviser.