Essential
Up to 50 transactions per month
€180/month approx. · RMB1,500
- Bookkeeping and monthly accounts
- Chinese tax filings for your agreed scope
- English or German-language support
CHINA ACCOUNTING & TAX FOR EUROPEAN OWNERS
Compliant books in China.
Clear reporting for home.
A Chinese subsidiary has to satisfy Chinese tax rules and still fit into your European reporting. We keep your bookkeeping and Chinese filings on schedule, explain the figures in English or German, and prepare the reports your group accountant or Steuerberater needs.
Find your monthly plan ↗From about €180/month (RMB1,500) · Multilingual team · Scope agreed before you start
01 / MONTHLY ACCOUNTING PLANS
Straightforward plans. Predictable monthly cost.
Plans are based on your company's monthly transaction volume. Every plan includes bookkeeping and Chinese tax filing, with interpreter support in English, German, Russian, Chinese, Thai, Indonesian or Burmese.
Growing business
51–200 transactions per month
€300/month approx. · RMB2,500
- Bookkeeping and monthly accounts
- Chinese tax filings for your agreed scope
- English or German-language support
Established business
201–500 transactions per month
€420/month approx. · RMB3,500
- Bookkeeping and monthly accounts
- Chinese tax filings for your agreed scope
- English or German-language support
More than 500 transactions a month? Ask for a tailored quotation. Euro amounts are approximate at RMB8.3 = €1; we invoice in RMB. Before engagement, we confirm how transactions are counted, your tax registrations, filing obligations and whether service tax is included. Your company's own taxes are separate from our fee.
A clearly defined scope
We review your business activity and records, agree the scope of work and identify the filings your company needs. We tell you what is missing and what is due, so routine compliance stays routine.
Additional work quoted in advance
Clean-up of past records, statutory audits, payroll, transfer pricing documentation, specialist tax advice and bank remittances may need a separate scope and quotation. Year-end responsibilities are confirmed in your engagement, and you approve any additional work before it starts.
How a typical month works
- Send us your records. Bank statements, sales and purchase invoices, expense receipts and relevant contracts.
- We resolve questions. We review the records with you and follow up on missing information before deadlines.
- Review and file. You confirm the figures and pay any tax due. We keep filing receipts and supporting documents together.
02 / THE EUROPEAN SIDE
Your Chinese subsidiary and your home tax position.
Owning a Chinese company usually has consequences in your home country too. We don't give tax advice for EU jurisdictions, but we make the Chinese side straightforward for the adviser who does.
| Topic | What European owners should know |
|---|---|
| Double tax treaties | Each EU member state has its own bilateral tax treaty with China; there is no single EU-wide treaty. Many treaties reduce dividend withholding to 5% for a company shareholder with a substantial holding (often at least 25%), and 10% otherwise. Check the treaty for your country. State Taxation Administration ↗ |
| Dividends received at home | Many EU countries largely exempt dividends that a company receives from a qualifying foreign subsidiary, or give a credit for Chinese tax paid. Individuals are usually taxed at home with a credit for Chinese withholding. |
| CFC rules | The EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive requires every member state to have controlled foreign company rules, which can attribute some low-taxed subsidiary income to the parent. China's 25% standard rate often keeps a WFOE outside their scope, but reliefs can change that. European Commission: ATAD ↗ |
| Transfer pricing | Management fees, royalties and intra-group sales between your European company and the WFOE need arm's-length pricing and documentation on both sides. Agree the method before the first invoice. |
| Global minimum tax | Groups with consolidated revenue of at least €750 million fall under the EU Minimum Tax Directive (Pillar Two). Chinese tax data will be needed for the group's calculations. |
General information, not tax advice for your country. We can provide English-language financial statements, trial balances and tax payment records to support consolidation under IFRS or your local GAAP.
03 / CHINESE TAX BASICS
Chinese tax, explained clearly.
Your company's tax treatment depends on its activities, taxpayer status, location and eligibility for relief. Foreign ownership does not, by itself, change the rate. Use this overview as the starting point for a discussion about your company.
| Tax or requirement | What you should know |
|---|---|
| Corporate Income Tax (CIT) | The standard rate is 25% of taxable profit, not turnover. Accounting profit may need tax adjustments. STA: corporate income tax ↗ |
| Small, low-profit enterprise relief | Qualifying companies can have an effective 5% CIT burden until 31 December 2027. Conditions include annual taxable income of no more than RMB3 million (about €361,000), no more than 300 employees, total assets of no more than RMB50 million and an eligible sector. It is not automatic for every small company. STA: eligibility and relief ↗ |
| Value-Added Tax (VAT) | China's VAT works much like European VAT. Under the VAT Law in force in 2026, the main rates are 13%, 9% and 6%, depending on the transaction. General taxpayers normally pay output VAT less eligible input VAT; small-scale taxpayers follow simplified rules. MOF: VAT Law ↗ |
| Small-scale VAT relief | For 2026–2027, the exemption thresholds are RMB100,000 per month or RMB300,000 per quarter, with conditions. Eligible sales otherwise subject to the 3% rate may qualify for 1%; certain property and land transactions are excluded. Invoice type and the nature of your sales matter. MOF: 2026 VAT policy ↗ |
| Other obligations | Depending on your activities, payroll withholding, social insurance, stamp duty and local surcharges may also apply. These are separate from CIT and depend on your actual business. |
A monthly service doesn't mean monthly filings for everything
Filings can be monthly, quarterly or annual. CIT prepayments are generally monthly or quarterly, with an annual reconciliation due within five months of the year end, normally 31 May for a calendar-year company. Public holidays can shift specific deadlines.
Official CIT filing guidance ↗No revenue yet? Filings still apply.
A new or dormant company can still have bookkeeping, reporting and tax filing obligations. A nil return must reflect the facts; it is not a way to skip record-keeping. Let us know promptly if your business activity changes.
Good records make everything easier
Keep company and personal funds separate. Match payments to genuine contracts and invoices, including official fapiao where required. Retain bank statements, expense documents and employee records. In China, a bank receipt alone does not prove that an expense is deductible or that input VAT can be claimed.
Before you hire, import, export, invoice a new type of sale or pay a European or other overseas supplier, check the accounting and tax consequences with us. It is far easier to prepare the right paperwork at the start than to reconstruct it later.
04 / BRINGING PROFITS HOME
Repatriate profits to Europe, properly documented.
China's Foreign Investment Law allows foreign investors to transfer lawful profits and other investment returns out of China, in RMB or foreign currency. Each transfer still needs the correct corporate, tax and bank documentation. Foreign Investment Law, Article 21 ↗
Profit is not the same as cash in the bank
A dividend must come from distributable profit, after tax, prior losses and required reserves. A large bank balance may include capital, loans or customer prepayments, which are not automatically available to distribute.
- Confirm the distributable profit. Reconcile the accounts, tax position, prior losses and reserve requirements, and prepare the financial statements and audit documents the bank needs.
- Approve the dividend. Prepare the shareholder or board resolution and confirm the recipient and their shareholding.
- Apply withholding and treaty benefits. Determine the shareholder's tax status, claim treaty benefits where eligible and keep the supporting evidence.
- Submit to the bank. Provide the resolution, financial and tax documents and the payment application. The bank reviews the transfer to your European account and may request further information.
Requirements vary by transaction and bank. SAFE: profit remittance requirements ↗
Who receives the dividend matters
China's domestic withholding rate on dividends paid to a non-resident company is 10%, which many EU treaties reduce to 5% for a qualifying company shareholder. Individual shareholders are treated differently: from 1 September 2026, dividends from foreign-invested enterprises to foreign individuals are subject to 20% individual income tax, reduced to the treaty rate where an eligible EU resident claims it. The former exemption should not be assumed.
STA: non-resident enterprise tax ↗ · MOF/STA: foreign individual dividends, 2026 ↗
A worked example
Suppose your company approves an RMB100,000 dividend (about €12,000), after company-level tax and reserves:
- At 5% treaty withholding: RMB5,000 tax; RMB95,000 (about €11,400) transferred to Europe.
- At 10% withholding: RMB10,000 tax; RMB90,000 (about €10,800) transferred to Europe.
For illustration only, before bank charges, exchange-rate movements and any tax in your home country. Treaty eligibility, shareholder status and other facts can change the result.
Capital and loans follow different rules
Returning registered capital, repaying a shareholder loan and paying a genuine service fee or royalty to your European company are different transactions, each with its own documentation and tax treatment. They should not be relabelled as dividends or used to bypass the proper process. We can review your records and clarify what is needed before you approach the bank; specialist remittance work is quoted separately.
CLIENT STORIES
In our clients' own words.
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Content reviewed 29 October 2026. General information, not a determination of your company's tax position or tax advice for any EU country. Policies and local practice can change. Read accounting FAQs ↗