"Tax Refund Secrets" are not trustworthy! Be sure to watch out for these common issues in individual income tax settlement.

The 2025 individual income tax comprehensive income settlement is ongoing, and taxpayers can declare from today until June 30 via the individual income tax App. While netizens actively share their tax refund “red envelopes,” some so-called “tax refund secrets” are circulating online. Are these “tax refund secrets” really reliable? Experts warn: they are not trustworthy! Do not let small gains lead to big losses.

01

“Tax refund secrets” are not trustworthy

Experts: False income tax declarations are illegal

**The essence of “tax refund secrets” involves the misuse of personal identity information and the fraudulent declaration of special additional deductions, among other negative situations. Huang Lixin, director of the Taxation Science Research Institute of the State Administration of Taxation, explained that using someone else’s information for income tax declaration is illegal, and taxpayers should not let small gains lead to big losses.

What special additional deduction items are prone to errors?

Huang Lixin noted that identity theft is most common in the three special additional deduction categories of children’s education, supporting the elderly, and care for infants under three years old.

To better protect taxpayers’ legal rights and prevent issues such as incorrect filling of special additional deductions and fraudulent reporting of children’s or elderly information, tax authorities have further strengthened data utilization. For taxpayers who excessively or disproportionately report special additional deductions for children’s education, supporting the elderly, and care for infants under three years old, remote blocking will be applied.

What if a family member makes an error in filling out the information?

Huang Lixin stated that if someone has previously misused or incorrectly reported the personal taxpayer’s child or elderly information, the system will provide a clear prompt when that individual is filling out the deductions.

If the prompt indicates that a family member incorrectly reported the deduction information, the taxpayer should quickly negotiate with family and friends to modify the reported information and legally enjoy the special additional deductions.

What if a stranger misuses your information?

Huang Lixin explained that if the prompt indicates that a stranger has misused your information, there is no need to panic. You can go to the tax service hall and provide relevant proof materials. The tax authorities will verify this information, and once verified as accurate, they will urge the party that made the error to delete the relevant information or suspend their enjoyment of the special additional deductions.

Huang Lixin reminded that filing individual income tax settlements in accordance with the law is a legal obligation of every taxpayer. False declarations and the misuse of others’ information for individual income tax settlements not only constitute tax violations but also involve infringing on citizens’ personal information. Once verified, not only will they face tax refunds and fines, but they will also bear corresponding legal responsibilities.

02

Be aware of these common issues in income tax settlements

The special additional deductions for individual income tax include children’s education, continuing education, serious illness medical expenses, housing loan interest, housing rent, supporting the elderly, and care for infants under three years old.

Care for infants under three years old: 2000 yuan per child per month

Children’s education: 2000 yuan per child per month

Continuing education: 400 yuan per month for academic education, 3600 yuan for professional qualifications in the year of obtaining the certificate

Serious illness medical expenses: the portion exceeding 15,000 yuan within the scope of medical insurance, up to 80,000 yuan deductible

Housing loan interest: 1000 yuan per month, for a maximum of 240 months

Housing rent: tiered by city, 1500/1100/800 yuan

Monthly support for the elderly: 3000 yuan per month, with non-only children each receiving a maximum of 1500 yuan

Regarding common issues encountered during the confirmation and reporting of special additional deductions for individual income tax, tax authorities remind:

Common issue one

For the same child, how should parents report care for infants under three years old or children’s education special additional deductions? How should multiple children be reported?

According to the deduction standard of 2000 yuan per month for one child, parents can choose to enjoy the full deduction by one parent or split the deduction equally between both parents at fifty percent of the deduction standard. The specific deduction method cannot be changed within a tax year.

For families with multiple children, different deduction methods can be chosen for different children. For example, one child can be reported by one parent at the full deduction of 2000 yuan per month, while another child can be reported by both parents at fifty percent of the deduction standard of 1000 yuan per month, or one parent can fully claim the deduction for both children.

Common issue two

If the parents have retirement pensions, can I report supporting the elderly? If I have siblings, how should I report supporting the elderly?

Taxpayers supporting parents aged 60 or older can enjoy the special additional deduction for supporting the elderly. Whether the elderly have retirement pensions does not affect the taxpayer’s eligibility for the special additional deduction policy.

• If you are an only child, you can deduct a fixed amount of 3000 yuan per month.
• If you are a non-only child, you need to share the deduction limit of 3000 yuan with all siblings, and each person’s share must not exceed 1500 yuan per month.

03

Haven’t received your income tax refund yet?

Don’t worry! Check against these five situations

After submitting a tax refund application, if the refund hasn’t arrived yet, don’t worry! You may encounter five different situations: tax audit in progress, tax audit not approved, treasury processing, treasury refund failure, treasury processing complete. Among these, special attention should be paid to the situations of tax audit not approved and treasury refund failure.

1

Tax audit in progress

“Tax audit in progress” means you have successfully submitted your application, and the tax authority is reviewing your refund application. Due to the large number of people processing individual income tax settlements, the review takes time, so please be patient.

2

Tax audit not approved

“Tax audit not approved” means there is a problem with your declaration information. The tax authority will specify the reasons for the disapproval in the individual income tax App. You can check this promptly in the individual income tax App and make necessary checks, modifications, and improvements to your declaration data. After confirming accuracy, resubmit your declaration.

3

Treasury processing

“Treasury processing” means the tax authority has approved your application and submitted your refund request to the treasury, which is processing it according to regulations. Please be patient. Once processing is complete, the tax refund will be returned to the bank account you provided.

4

Treasury refund failure

“Treasury refund failure” means the tax refund cannot be deposited into your bank account. Generally, treasury refund failures are often related to the bank account information you provided. Please check whether the bank card account for the refund application is your own and whether it is canceled, lost, frozen, not activated, or has withdrawal limits. If any of these situations arise, you need to re-report a compliant bank account or bring your identification to the tax service hall to make changes. The system will resend the treasury refund processing.

5

Treasury processing complete

“Treasury processing complete” means the tax refund was successful. Please check whether the refund amount has been deposited into the bank account you selected when submitting your refund application.

📑 If the information is correct, online declarations typically complete review within 15 working days.

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