Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Several Matters Concerning Internet Platform Enterprises Handling Withholding Filing and Filing on Behalf for Practitioners Within the Platform - Original Text + Interpretation

Original text:

Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Several Matters Concerning Internet Platform Enterprises Handling Withholding Declaration and Agency Declaration for Practitioners on the Platform

State Taxation Administration Announcement No. 16 of 2025

To facilitate internet platform enterprises (including their relevant operating entities, the same below) in handling withholding filing and agency filing for practitioners on the platform (hereinafter referred to as practitioners), clarify the application of tax policies to practitioners, and reduce the tax handling burden on practitioners, the relevant matters are hereby announced as follows:

I. Application of individual income tax policy and withholding filing procedures

(1) Policy Applicability

Practitioners obtain remuneration for labor services from internet platform enterprises, and the internet platform enterprises shall calculate and withhold and prepay taxes in accordance with the cumulative withholding method stipulated in the "Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Issuing the Measures for the Administration of Individual Income Tax Withholding and Filing (Trial)" (No. 61 of 2018).

The specific calculation formula is as follows:

Tax amount to be withheld and prepaid this period = (cumulative income - cumulative expenses - cumulative tax-exempt income - cumulative deduction expenses - cumulative other deductions determined by law) × withholding rate - quick deduction - cumulative tax reduction and exemption amount - cumulative withheld and prepaid tax amount

Among them: the cumulative expense is calculated as cumulative income multiplied by 20%; the cumulative deduction expense is calculated as 5,000 yuan/month multiplied by the number of months the taxpayer continuously obtained labor remuneration at this internet platform enterprise in the current year up to the current month.

(II) Processing procedure for withholding and remittance filing

If an internet platform enterprise handles individual income tax withholding filing for practitioners in accordance with the provisions of this Announcement, the handling process shall be implemented in accordance with current relevant provisions.

II. VAT policy application and agency filing processing procedures

(1) Policy Applicability

Where practitioners obtain service income from internet platform enterprises and the internet platform enterprise handles VAT and surcharge filing on behalf in accordance with the provisions of this announcement, the service income obtained by the practitioners from the internet platform enterprise may, as required, enjoy preferential tax policies such as VAT exemption for small-scale taxpayers with monthly sales of less than RMB 100,000 and calculation and payment of VAT at a reduced rate of 1% instead of the 3% levy rate. If the relevant preferential tax policies for small-scale taxpayers are subsequently adjusted, the adjusted policies shall apply.

Where a practitioner's cumulative service income obtained from internet platform enterprises exceeds RMB 5 million over 12 consecutive months, the internet platform enterprise shall guide them to register as a market entity in accordance with the law and file and pay VAT on their own.

(2) Handling process for agency filing

Where an Internet platform enterprise handles agency filing of VAT and surtaxes for practitioners, the process is as follows:

1. Verify practitioner identity and obtain practitioner authorization

Internet platform enterprises shall conduct real-name verification of the identity information of practitioners in accordance with regulations; before handling VAT and surcharge agency filing for practitioners, obtain the written consent of the practitioners and retain it for inspection.

2. Agency filing of VAT and surcharges

Where practitioners obtain service income from internet platform enterprises, the internet platform enterprise shall, within the 15th day of the following month, fill out the Internet Platform Enterprise Filing on Behalf Form (Applicable to Filing on Behalf of Practitioners) (Attachment 1) to handle filing on behalf for the practitioners. Where the service income obtained by a practitioner exceeds the VAT exemption threshold for small-scale taxpayers and tax payment must be calculated, the internet platform enterprise shall pay the taxes and fees on behalf as required.

If a practitioner obtains service income from two or more internet platform enterprises within one month, and the total exceeds the VAT exemption threshold for small-scale taxpayers and tax and fees need to be calculated and paid, the tax authority shall push relevant information to the internet platform enterprises through information systems such as the electronic tax bureau. Internet platform enterprises shall, based on their respective sales amounts for which they handled filing in the current period, fill out the "Internet Platform Enterprise Consolidated Filing Form (Applicable to Filing on Behalf of Practitioners)" (Attachment 2) within the 15th day of the month following the filing handled on behalf of practitioners as stipulated in the preceding clauses, handle filing separately on behalf of practitioners, and pay the taxes and fees handled on behalf of practitioners as required.

Internet platform enterprises shall truthfully provide practitioners with tax-handling information such as agency filing and taxes and fees paid.

III. Corporate income tax pre-tax deduction

If an internet platform enterprise has already handled both individual income tax withholding filing and VAT and surcharge agency filing for its practitioners at the same time, and has completed the payment of taxes and fees, it may use the individual income tax withholding filing form, individual income tax payment certificate, internet platform enterprise agency filing form, and VAT and surcharge payment certificate as deduction vouchers to deduct the labor remuneration paid to practitioners before enterprise income tax on an actual basis.

Internet platform enterprises shall, in accordance with the provisions of tax laws and administrative regulations, preserve relevant materials and vouchers, including real-name verification records, business transaction details, settlement and payment records, and other materials that can prove the authenticity of the business, for inspection. If an internet platform enterprise fails to preserve materials that can prove the authenticity of the business in accordance with regulations, the relevant vouchers obtained from its withholding filing and agency filing shall not be used as pre-tax deduction vouchers for enterprise income tax.

IV. Other matters

If an internet platform enterprise handles both withholding filing and agency filing for its practitioners at the same time, it does not need to repeatedly submit the identity information and income information of the practitioners in accordance with the Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Matters Concerning the Submission of Tax-Related Information by Internet Platform Enterprises (No. 15 of 2025).

If an internet platform enterprise falsely handles withholding filing or agency filing, the tax authority shall pursue liability in accordance with law and include the relevant circumstances in tax payment credit evaluation management.

V. Effective date

This announcement takes effect from October 1, 2025.

Hereby announced.

Official interpretation by the tax bureau:

Interpretation of the Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Several Matters Concerning Internet Platform Enterprises Handling Withholding Filing and Agency Filing for Practitioners on the Platform

To facilitate internet platform enterprises in handling withholding filing and agency filing for practitioners on the platform (hereinafter referred to as practitioners), clarify the application of tax policies to practitioners, and reduce the tax handling burden on practitioners, the State Taxation Administration issued the "Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Several Matters Concerning Internet Platform Enterprises Handling Withholding Filing and Agency Filing for Practitioners on the Platform" (hereinafter referred to as the "Announcement"). The relevant content is interpreted as follows:

I. What is the background of the issuance of the Announcement?

To implement the provision of the Provisions on the Reporting of Tax-Related Information by Internet Platform Enterprises that "where an internet platform enterprise has already reported tax-related information when handling tax-related matters such as withholding declaration and agency declaration for operators and practitioners on the platform in accordance with regulations, there is no need to report it repeatedly," the State Taxation Administration, targeting the scenario where practitioners obtain labor remuneration or service income from internet platform enterprises, optimized the withholding and prepayment method for individual income tax on labor remuneration income, refined the relevant provisions on agency declaration of VAT and surtaxes, and clarified the relevant requirements for pre-tax deduction of enterprise income tax, reducing the tax-handling burden of practitioners on the platform while avoiding repeated reporting of relevant tax-related information by internet platform enterprises.

II. Which enterprises can apply the provisions of this announcement to handle withholding filing and agency filing?

Internet platform enterprises that submit the Internet Platform Enterprise Basic Information Reporting Form in accordance with the Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Matters Concerning the Reporting of Tax-related Information by Internet Platform Enterprises (No. 15 of 2025), or the relevant operating entity responsible for settling payments with practitioners, may apply this Announcement to handle withholding filing and agency filing.

III. To reduce the burden on employees in the withholding and prepayment stage, what adjustments has the Announcement made to the individual income tax withholding and prepayment method?

According to current relevant provisions, where a taxpayer obtains remuneration for labor services, individual income tax shall be withheld and prepaid at the three-level progressive withholding rate of 20%-40%, and tax shall be prepaid when each income exceeds 800 yuan. To reduce the burden on practitioners at the withholding and prepayment stage, the Announcement adjusted the method for withholding and prepaying individual income tax on practitioners' remuneration for labor services, allowing withholding and prepayment according to the cumulative withholding method, which can deduct the monthly 5,000 yuan deduction and calculate tax at the seven-level progressive withholding rate of 3%-45%.

Example 1: Ms. Zhang obtained remuneration for personal services of 7,000 yuan and 7,500 yuan from Platform Enterprise A in June and July respectively, obtained no remuneration for personal services in August and September, and obtained remuneration for personal services of 7,200 yuan, 6,000 yuan and 8,000 yuan in October, November and December respectively.

According to the current withholding and prepayment method, the tax that Zhang needs to prepay each month is respectively:

June: 7000×(1-20%)×20%=1120 yuan;

July: 7500×(1-20%)×20%=1200 yuan;

October: 7200×(1-20%)×20%=1152 yuan;

November: 6000×(1-20%)×20%=960 yuan;

December: 8000×(1-20%)×20%=1280 yuan;

Total prepaid tax required is 5712 yuan.

Under the adjusted method, using the cumulative withholding method, the tax Mr. Zhang needs to prepay each month is as follows:

June: [7000×(1-20%)-5000]×3%=18 yuan;

July: [(7000+7500)×(1-20%)-5000×2]×3%-18=30 yuan;

Because Zhang received no income in August and September, starting from October, cumulative tax calculation must begin anew.

October: [7200×(1-20%)-5000]×3%=22.8 yuan;

November: [(7200+6000)×(1-20%)-5000×2]×3%-22.8=-6 yuan. Since the prepaid tax payable is less than zero, no tax payment or refund is required this month;

December: [(7200+6000+8000)×(1-20%)-5000×3]×3%-22.8=36 yuan.

Total prepaid tax required is 106.8 yuan, 5605.2 yuan less than before the adjustment method.

IV. What does remuneration for labor services obtained by practitioners from internet platform enterprises include?

Remuneration for labor services obtained by practitioners from internet platform enterprises generally includes: income obtained from for-profit services such as live streaming, education, medical care, delivery, domestic services, tutoring, travel, consulting, training, brokerage, design, performance, advertising, translation, agency, promotion, and technical services provided through internet platforms.

Income obtained by operators and practitioners within a platform who have not obtained market entity registration licenses through selling goods or providing transportation services via internet platforms belongs to business income.

V. May an internet platform enterprise handle VAT agency filing for overseas practitioners in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Announcement?

Where overseas practitioners obtain service income from a domestic internet platform enterprise, the domestic internet platform enterprise, as the service purchaser, shall withhold and remit VAT for the practitioners in accordance with regulations.

Six, The Announcement requires internet platform enterprises to conduct real-name verification of the identity information of practitioners. What are the specific requirements?

Internet platform enterprises shall adopt reliable real-name verification methods such as facial recognition to regularly verify the authenticity of practitioners' identities, and preserve the verification time and verification results to ensure that practitioner information is true and valid. If a practitioner's identity is untrue, the relevant vouchers obtained by the internet platform enterprise from handling withholding filing and agency filing for the practitioner shall not be used for pre-tax deduction for enterprise income tax.

Seven, if practitioners selling services within an internet platform issue refunds, how should the internet platform enterprise fill in sales amount when filing VAT and surcharges on an agency basis?

Where practitioners subject to the simplified taxation method refund service revenue due to sales allowances, suspension, or returns, the amount shall be deducted from the current period's sales amount as required; if a balance remains after the deduction and results in overpaid tax, it may be deducted from future tax payable.

Eight, how do internet platform enterprises fill in columns such as "user name," "user unique identifier code," "name of the internet platform from which income is sourced," "user name from which income is sourced," and "user unique identifier code from which income is sourced" in the Internet Platform Enterprise Agency Filing Form?

When an internet platform enterprise fills out the Internet Platform Enterprise Agency Filing Form, in the "User Name" column, fill in the user name displayed by the practitioner within the platform; in the "User Unique Identifier Code" column, fill in the identity identifier proof of the practitioner within the platform that is unique, long-term, and traceable.

Scenario 1: If the income obtained by the practitioner actually comes from this platform, fill in the name of this internet platform for "Name of Internet Platform of Income Source", fill in the same as "User Name" for "User Name of Income Source", and fill in the same as "User Unique Identifier Code" for "User Unique Identifier Code of Income Source".

Example 2: Ms. Zhang sells services on Platform Jia operated by Enterprise A and has registered a user account on Platform Jia, with the username "Zhang Moumou" and the unique user identifier "zhangsan123"; when Enterprise A handles the agency filing, it fills in "Zhang Moumou" in the "User Name" column, "zhangsan123" in the "Unique User Identifier" column, "Platform Jia" in the "Name of Internet Platform from Which Income Is Derived" column, "Zhang Moumou" in the "Name of User from Whom Income Is Derived" column, and "zhangsan123" in the "Unique User Identifier of the User from Whom Income Is Derived" column.

Scenario 2: If the income obtained by the practitioner actually originates from other internet platforms, fill in the "Name of the internet platform of income source" with the name of the other internet platform where the practitioner actually sells services, fill in the "User name of income source" with the full "name" or "nickname" displayed by the practitioner on the other internet platform, and fill in the "Unique user identifier of income source" with the identity identifier proof of the practitioner on the other internet platform that is unique, long-term, and traceable.

Example 3: Li actually registered a user account on Platform Jia operated by Enterprise A and sold services there, with the username "Li Moumou" and the unique user identifier "lisi123"; however, the service income corresponding to Li's service sales on Platform Jia was actually paid through Platform Yi operated by Enterprise B, and Li registered a user account on Platform Yi, with the username "Li Mousi" and the unique user identifier "lisiABC". When Enterprise B handles the agency filing, it fills in "Li Mousi" in the "User Name" column, "lisiABC" in the "Unique User Identifier" column, "Platform Jia" in the "Name of Internet Platform from Which Income Is Derived" column, "Li Moumou" in the "Name of User from Whom Income Is Derived" column, and "lisi123" in the "Unique User Identifier of the User from Whom Income Is Derived" column.

IX. If a practitioner obtains service income from two or more internet platform enterprises within one month, and the total exceeds the VAT exemption threshold for small-scale taxpayers and tax payment needs to be calculated, how should the internet platform enterprise handle consolidated filing on their behalf?

Where practitioners obtain service income from internet platform enterprises, the internet platform enterprise shall handle filing on their behalf within the 15th day of the following month. Where a practitioner obtains service income from two or more internet platform enterprises within one month and the total exceeds the VAT exemption threshold for small-scale taxpayers and tax payment must be calculated, the tax authority provides pre-filling services and, by the end of the month in which the internet platform enterprise completes the filing on behalf, pushes the relevant information through the tax information system to the internet platform enterprise for confirmation-based consolidated filing on behalf.

Example 4: Ms. Chen obtained service income of 70,000 yuan and 50,000 yuan from Platform Enterprise A and Platform Enterprise B respectively in October, and Platform Enterprise A and Platform Enterprise B handled agency filings for Ms. Chen respectively in November. At the end of November, the tax information system aggregated Ms. Chen's service income and calculated that her total service income in October exceeded 100,000 yuan, and she should pay additional VAT of 1,200 yuan. At the end of November, the tax information system pushed the aggregated information to Platform Enterprise A and Platform Enterprise B, and Platform Enterprise A and Platform Enterprise B shall handle the aggregated agency filing and tax payment for Ms. Chen respectively before December 15.

Example 5: Ms. Wang obtained service income of 50,000 yuan and 130,000 yuan from Platform Enterprise A and Platform Enterprise B respectively in October, and Platform Enterprise A and Platform Enterprise B handled agency filings for Ms. Wang respectively in November. At the end of November, the tax information system aggregated Ms. Wang's service income and calculated her total service income in October to be 180,000 yuan. Since Platform Enterprise B had already handled the agency filing and paid VAT of 1,300 yuan for her, the tax information system will push the aggregated information to Platform Enterprise A at the end of November, and Platform Enterprise A shall handle the aggregated agency filing and tax payment for Ms. Wang before December 15.

10. How is a tax refund handled when an internet platform enterprise corrects an agency filing and a tax refund is required?

If an internet platform enterprise's current-period agency filing is erroneous and a tax refund is required for correcting the agency filing in the current month, the internet platform enterprise shall apply to the tax authority for the tax refund; if an internet platform enterprise's prior-period agency filing is erroneous and a tax refund is required for correcting the agency filing, it shall inform the practitioners, and the practitioners shall apply to the tax authority for the tax refund.

11. If an internet platform enterprise has already handled withholding declaration and tax payment on behalf of others, does it still need to report the identity information and income information of practitioners?

If an internet platform enterprise handles both withholding filing and agency filing for its practitioners at the same time, it does not need to repeatedly submit the identity information and income information of the practitioners.

Example 6: Ms. Zhao obtained service income of 20,000 yuan from Platform Enterprise A in October, and Platform Enterprise A handled the withholding and filing of individual income tax and the agency filing of VAT and surtaxes for her in November as required. In that case, Platform Enterprise A does not need to repeatedly report Ms. Zhao's identity information and income information in accordance with the Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Matters Concerning the Reporting of Tax-Related Information by Internet Platform Enterprises (No. 15 of 2025).

——The above content comes from the State Taxation Administration

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