The State Taxation Administration has issued nationally unified tax administrative penalty discretion standards, effective 1 November 2026. The standards cover 66 violations in nine categories and use five levels: minor, relatively minor, ordinary, relatively serious and serious.
The rules unify key concepts and enforcement criteria nationwide. A first violation is determined within one calendar year. The existing 14 first-violation no-penalty matters are included in the minor level, and a separate list provides eight additional minor violations for which no penalty applies when the violation is corrected on the taxpayer's initiative before discovery, or within the ordered correction period, and no harmful consequence has occurred.
The standards address tax registration, books and vouchers, tax filing, tax and social insurance contribution collection, tax inspection, invoices and tax certificates, tax guarantees, tax-related professional services and tax-related information reporting. They also set specific factors for late filing, tax evasion and invoice violations.
Businesses and tax service providers should review filing, bookkeeping, invoice and information-reporting controls before the effective date, correct minor issues promptly and retain evidence of correction. Violations occurring before 1 November 2026 generally remain subject to the rules in force when they occurred, unless application of the new announcement is more favorable to the taxpayer or fee payer. The official Chinese announcement and the competent tax authority's latest guidance remain controlling.