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China’s annual tax refund filing for domestic income has started. Don’t forget about it. Students and lower-income taxpayers in particular may be able to get a meaningful refund back, especially if the income was properly reported and compliant, such as stipends paid to you by a research group. Many readers of this blog are students or scholars visiting or studying in the U.S.; in principle, if you still had stipend or subsidy income in China, you may be eligible for a tax refund. Steps:
  • Download the Individual Income Tax App,
  • Register; you will need SMS verification from a China mobile phone number
  • Tap “I Want to File Taxes” → Annual Reconciliation for Comprehensive Income
  • Your refund must be deposited to a China-issued debit card

If you already claimed a refund for 2019 income (filed in 2020), you can directly see the amount refundable this year for 2020.

Note: Some institutions may have already handled the tax exemption for you, in which case you would not need to apply for a refund. For example, nationally standardized graduate student stipends or school-wide subsidies may already have been treated as tax-exempt. But if the subsidy was paid separately by a lab, project team, or research group, you may very well need to apply for a tax refund.