The platform companies' tax filing for the first quarter will start on April 1st. The platform will strictly review the quality of the submitted data.

On April 1, the State Taxation Administration held a routine press conference.

In response to the “invoice-based economy” chaos that disrupts the unified national market and distorts economic data, the tax authorities briefed on the phased results of the special governance efforts in the first quarter. They clarified that they will implement cross-departmental coordinated supervision and joint penalties to remove the soil that allows the “invoice-based economy” to grow. At the same time, the submission work for tax-related information by internet platform enterprises for the first quarter of 2026 officially kicked off.

Crack Down Hard on the “Invoice-Based Economy” and Strengthen the Bottom Line of Tax Legal Governance for Fair Competition

The “invoice-based economy” is a prominent manifestation of illegal invitation of investment in some regions and “involution-style” competitive comparisons. A relatively typical scenario is that some localities attract all kinds of platforms that only engage in invoicing business, or so-called “shell companies,” to register and relocate locally by improperly implementing fiscal rebates linked to taxation and so on. In addition, some enterprises, for purposes such as boosting performance and obtaining financing, engage in “circular invoicing” and “mutual invoicing” among related enterprises to artificially enlarge sales revenue, inject “water” into the local GDP, and create a false impression of “digital prosperity.”

Wang Daoshu, Deputy Director of the State Taxation Administration, pointed out that the “invoice-based economy” violates the Tax Collection and Administration Law, tax substantive law, and the measures for invoice administration. It not only damages economic and tax collection order and causes actual loss of national fiscal capacity, but also undermines the environment for fair competition. It splits the unified national market, and may also trigger other risks due to companies dressing up performance and taking out loans in violation of regulations. This seriously deviates from the requirements of the CPC Central Committee on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements, and seriously affects high-quality development.

In recent years, tax authorities have continued to carry out special governance for tax-related issues involving illegal investment attraction. The national tax work meeting held earlier this year required tax authorities at all levels to strictly implement the pre-set measures for special governance of tax-related issues involving illegal investment attraction, and to intensify efforts to address the problems of the “invoice-based economy.”

Wang Daoshu said that the tax authorities’ rectification of “circular invoicing” and “mutual invoicing” has also achieved preliminary results. According to data from the State Taxation Administration, from January 1 to March 25, the invoicing amounts of such companies concentrated in the wholesale industry decreased year on year by 2.6%. Among them, the invoicing amounts in the wholesale of coal and related products decreased by 8.7% year on year, and those in the wholesale of metals and metal ores decreased by 5.2% year on year.

Wang Daoshu said that in the next step, tax authorities will intensify efforts to rectify the “invoice-based economy” in accordance with law and regulations. By focusing on rectifying key areas and clusters of registration, key industries, related companies, and so on, improving risk monitoring indicators, strengthening routine scanning and analysis, and, according to verification findings, rapidly iterating and upgrading, they will continuously improve screening accuracy.

Tax authorities will conduct key verifications of high-risk regions, industries, and enterprises indicated by risk scanning. They will continue to clear existing stock and curb new additions, driving a sustained decline in both the number of enterprises engaging in illegal invoicing nationwide and the invoicing amounts. For illegal acts such as issuing false invoices, they will investigate and prosecute rigorously—never soft-pedal. For targeted handling measures against “shell companies” and invoicing platforms that are lured through improper award subsidies and tax rebates, as well as against violations such as “turning invoices into transaction orders” and “circular invoicing,” they will implement relevant treatment measures accordingly.

Wang Daoshu said that removing the soil that allows the “invoice-based economy” to grow requires joint efforts from relevant parties and all sectors of society. When tax authorities identify regions and business entities where “invoice-based economy” problems are more prominent, they will promptly share relevant information with departments such as the NDRC, the Ministry of Finance, the statistics authorities, market regulation authorities, and financial institutions. They will improve and refine the institutional mechanisms for coordinated rectification of the “invoice-based economy” by pooling cross-departmental coordinated supervision efforts, implementing joint penalties, and enhancing governance effectiveness.

Platform-Related Tax Information Submission for the First Quarter Has Officially Started

“Platform-related tax information submission for the first quarter of 2026 has already begun today.” Lian Qifeng, Director of the Tax Administration and Science and Technology Development Department of the State Taxation Administration, said that tax authorities will continue to provide consultation, guidance, and technical support, and will further improve the convenience for platform enterprises to report; they also asked all platform enterprises to continue submitting information in accordance with law and regulations to ensure the information is true, accurate, and complete.

To create a fair and unified tax environment and promote the regulated, healthy development of the platform economy, in June last year the State Council issued the 《Measures for the Submission of Tax-Related Information by Internet Platform Enterprises》（hereinafter referred to as the 《Measures》）, requiring internet platform enterprises to submit, on a quarterly basis to their in-charge tax authorities, tax-related information such as the identity information and income information of operators and employees within the platform.

With active support and cooperation from platform enterprises and operators and employees within the platforms, at present nearly 8,200 domestic and overseas platforms have already submitted tax-related information to tax authorities. Lian Qifeng said that in the fourth quarter of 2025, the invoicing amount obtained by small-scale taxpayers within the platform grew by 28% year on year, and the role of tax-related information submission in promoting compliance linkage across the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain has continued to become more evident. The number of merchants that paid taxes within the platform increased by 32% compared with before the implementation of the 《Measures》, and the difference in the average tax burden between online merchants and offline merchants has become clearly smaller.

Judging from the submission of tax-related information in the fourth quarter of 2025, most platforms have advanced the timing of their first submission (the third quarter of 2025) by a large margin. The number of operators and employees and the scale of revenue reported by each platform both increased by more than 10% quarter on quarter, and the quality of submitted information has further improved.

At the same time, the operating order of the platform economy has begun to improve. Tax-related information submission makes platform operating data more explicit, greatly compressing the space for illegal operations such as merchants failing to register, concealing income, splitting income, converting income nature, and so on. Violations in operations such as false marketing, malicious single-ordering, and low-price dumping within platforms have started to decrease, and the “anti-involution” effect on the platform economy triggered by tax-related information submission has continued to show itself.

Lian Qifeng said that in the next step, tax authorities will strictly verify the quality of data submitted by platforms and strictly prevent issues such as fraud and submissions that do not match the facts. Meanwhile, they will further deepen the application of tax-related information analysis, identify tax risk for merchants within platforms and issue compliance declaration reminders. For those that refuse to correct illegal conduct, tax authorities will investigate and handle them severely. In addition, they will select representative cases for public exposure in the future to effectively safeguard a fair and unified tax environment and better promote the regulated and healthy development of the platform economy.

More Than CNY 2 Trillion in Sci-Tech Innovation Tax Benefits Delivered; Strictly Prevent “Fake High-Tech” and “Pseudo R&D” From Getting Policy Windfalls

The “15th Five-Year Plan for 2025” outline includes “a major improvement in the level of self-reliance and self-strengthening in science and technology” as one of the main goals for economic and social development. To support technological innovation, tax authorities have continued to promote the implementation of every tax and fee preferential policy supporting technology innovation down to the details and on the ground.

Huang Yun, spokesperson of the State Taxation Administration and director of its General Office, introduced that in 2025, the main current tax and fee policies supporting science and technology innovation reduced taxes and fees and provided tax refunds totaling more than CNY 2 trillion. Among them, the policy of additional deduction for R&D expenses reduced by more than CNY 760 billion; the corporate income tax preferential treatment for high-tech enterprises with the reduced rate of 15% reduced by nearly CNY 400 billion; value-added tax input credit refund for manufacturing and science and technology service enterprises exceeded CNY 180 billion; and the tax reduction and exemptions enjoyed by advanced manufacturing enterprises under the VAT additional deduction policy exceeded CNY 170 billion.

Huang Yun pointed out that driven by a package of supportive policies, including tax and fee preferential policies, China’s scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation have accelerated their integration and development.

On the one hand, competitiveness in high-tech industries has been strengthened. In 2025, sales revenue in high-tech industries grew by 13.9% year on year. From January 1 to March 25 this year, it further grew by 14.6% year on year, reflecting that industrial upgrading driven by technological innovation at its core is continuing to deepen.

On the other hand, efforts to transform scientific research achievements have been intensified. In 2025, sales revenue of the scientific research and technical services industry and of knowledge property-intensive industries with high technology content grew by 20.4% and 10.7% year on year, respectively. From January 1 to March 25 this year, they further grew by 21% and 10.9% year on year, respectively, showing that scientific and technological achievements are accelerating their transformation into real productive forces.

In addition, the integration and deepening of the digital and real economy has progressed steadily. In 2025, sales revenue of core industries of the digital economy and the nationwide amount of enterprises purchasing digital technologies grew by 9.4% and 9.6% year on year, respectively. From January 1 to March 25 this year, they further grew by 9.5% and 9.7% year on year, respectively, reflecting that the industrialization of digital technologies and the digitization of industries are being continuously advanced.

Huang Yun said that in the next step, tax authorities will rely on big tax data and information technology means to carry out targeted policy delivery, further improving policy awareness, ease of declaration, and precision of benefits. At the same time, they will closely focus on policies with large amounts of tax reductions, fast scale growth, and high risk of fraudulent benefit-taking, and will improve the routine risk scanning and early-warning mechanisms. They will not only strictly prevent tax personnel from dereliction of duty or malpractice, but also rigorously investigate and punish acts of fraudulent benefit-taking through means such as “fake high-tech” and “pseudo R&D,” firmly preventing the “policy cash gifts” from landing in the pockets of criminals.

Proofread by: Liu Rongzhi