BDO Indirect Tax News

China has introduced new tax reporting rules for resident and nonresident platform operators in an effort to enhance transparency and enforcement. Regulations adopted by the State Council on 13 June 2025 and that apply immediately require platform operators to submit quarterly reports to the Chinese tax authorities (STA) on the identity and income of sellers and workers operating on the platform. The first reports are due in October 2025. The new rules are aligned in many respects with international standards, such as the OECD model reporting rules for digital platforms.

Platform operators are defined as e-commerce platform operators under Chinese law and other legal persons or unincorporated organisations that provide online marketplaces and business venues, transaction facilitation, information and other profit-making services for online transaction activities.

The salient points of the regulations are as follows:

• Platform operators must provide specific information (e.g., domain name, name of the business, revenue from relevant transactions, etc.) to the competent tax authorities within 30 days from the date the regulations were implemented or within 30 days from the date the platform commences online business operations.
• Platform operators must verify the tax-related information of sellers/workers on the platform and be responsible for the authenticity, accuracy and completeness of the information. The report on the identity and income of sellers/workers must be submitted quarterly.
• There are exemptions from the reporting requirements:
  • Platforms do not have to submit tax information on individuals engaged in certain public convenience services, such as delivery, transportation and domestic work who either enjoy tax exemptions or are not subject to taxation under current laws; and 
  • A report is not needed for tax information generated before 13 June 2025, the effective date of the regulations, nor is it necessary to submit duplicate information already reported through tax withholding or proxy declarations.
• The STA is directed to provide safe and reliable channels for reporting tax-related information and to keep the information confidential.
• When conducting tax inspections, the STA may require platform operators to provide tax-related information such as contract orders, transaction details, financial accounts, logistics, etc. of sellers/employees suspected of violating the law.
• Penalties will apply for noncompliance with the reporting rules, such as failure to submit or provide tax information by the stipulated deadline or concealing, omitting or falsely reporting information. The STA may order the platform operator to rectify a deficiency and if it fails to do so, monetary penalties may be imposed.

Gordon Gao
Jack Shen
BDO in China