Job Discussion Forums

[beautification]

I've been trying to get my school to give me a tax slip or papers for about three months now because I need to send some money home.

Am I wrong in thinking the tax slip is just a paper that says I've paid my Chinese taxes?

Now, my contract clearly states that the school will not pay my taxes and it is my responsibility to do so. If this is actually the case, how to I go about getting the proper papers to send money home?

Last month the school did say they would deduct something like 10RMB to cover my taxes. I only make a little more than the tax cut off line (5000RMB)

This morning I gave the man in charge a note saying I am still waiting for the slips. I haven't heard back from him as he needs one of the Chinese English teachers to translate for him.

So, basically is there any other way for me to obtain the required tax information to send money home?

[eslstudies]

[OGFT]

You can go directly to the tax office, take your passport and the tax office can give you a chopped tax receipt.

[Lister]

I'm told its pretty common for companies to come to an 'arrangement' with the tax office. I assume this means buying somebody there an expensive gift or giving them a red envelope in order for them to look the other way regarding the taxes they should be paying. The other thing they could be doing is keeping two sets of books, one for the taxman and then an actual set of books for themselves. If this is the case who knows if the company even has a tax certificate to give you?

[james s]

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[bendan]

You get a 4800 tax-free allowance, so only 200 a month is taxable on a 5000 a month salary. For the first 500 yuan of your taxable income, you pay 5%. That's 10 yuan a month. I wouldn't jump to the conclusion you are being screwed.

Are you sure you need tax receipts to change money? I have never had to show them.

[phis]

I'm getting a little confused with this thread. I can understand the queries about whether or not a school is paying your tax, but what has that got to do with changing currency and sending money home?

I have had my salary sent home every month since I arrived. The guy who pays me just goes to the bank, changes the money into pounds sterling and then does the transfer to my English bank account. He does all this using his Chinese id card. No other documentation required, and I don't have to move my lazy butt one iota.

I'm due for my final payment at the end of June and he is just going to change the lot: salaries, airfares, bonuses, etc., into pounds sterling (or maybe some of it into $US, I haven't decided yet), and I will take it with me.

I will be asking for a statement of total salary earned over the year, stating that tax has been paid, but only because it may get me a bit of a tax rebate after my summer job in the UK. I can't think of any other reason why I would want to know about the tax paid. Perhaps that is naive of me, I don't know.

[clark.w.griswald]

[phis]

Yes, I understand all that Clark, but I have read lots of posts on here about sending money yourself, with mixed degrees of difficulty, it seems. However, I have never heard anyone mention that they needed to produce a tax certificate to do it. I believe the usual documents are your FEC booklet to enter the transaction and also your passport.

But why go the difficult route when the other way is straightforward - and legal! The first month, I went with the guy who does mine (as my Chinese ability was non-existent!), thinking that I had to be there in person, and I took every conceivable document I thought might be needed. It was the Bank of China employee who recommended that we forget my documentation and do it with my colleague's id card, as this was much easier and more straightforward.

I know I'm lucky in that, in the university where I work, the FAO and other management staff are willing to go the extra mile or two for the Foreign Teachers, and help us out with just about everything we need. But surely most people know some trustworthy and responsible person who would be willing to help with this. After all, it is all legal!

And before anyone suggests this - No, you wouldn't walk up to a stranger in the street, hand them your money, and ask them to go into the bank and send it to your home country! Commonsense in all things, is the golden rule.

[HunanForeignGuy]

james s wrote:

The tax cut off is Y1600. Whoever told you it is Y5000 is lying.

This information is 100% erroneous.

James S., the tax cut off for Chinese citizens is RMB 1,600 per month.

The tax cut-off for foreign nationals working in China is RMB 4,800 per month. It had been RMB 4,000 per months for nearly years and it was raised at the beginning of last year, I believe.

Here is the official announcement at published in the China Daily:



Income-tax threshold raised for foreigners
By Su Bei (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-09 05:30

Foreigners working in China have to pay personal income tax only if their monthly pay is above 4,800 yuan (US$592), up from the previous threshold of 4,000 yuan (US$493), Xinhua reported yesterday.

The revised law on personal income tax became effective as of January 1 this year, but the amount of foreigners' taxable income has not been widely reported.

Next, there are different tax offices for different kind of entities. Certain government entities and military establishments direct their taxes to certain kind of offices. In the largest cities, such as Guangzhou, there is an entire special Foreigner Taxation Office.

You yourself can go to the local Taxation Office, once you have determined which one to go to; bring your passport, your contract, your FEC, etc., and money and you can self-declare and self-pay your own income taxes. The income tax on RMB 5,000 per month is indeed minimal if you are a foreigner (about 15 RMB I think but I am not 100% sure).

In the case of the school where I am now and which I am leaving, they were simply pocketing the tax money of the foreign teachers and they were taxing us on everything under the sun. We went to the local tax office, chatted with the manager, who spoke good English, the school was called and was reprimanded and fined, and voila within about 2 months of the incident, proper tax receipts with a chop were produced.

I would not pay my own tax if it had been deduced from your pay previously. Take your contract, a copy of your bank statement showing how much you had been paid, and head over to the local tax office. They will for sure do something because the fine for this kind of nefarious activity, as I learned, is about RMB 20,000 and frankly I don't care whose pockets the fine went into, they are more than glad to do it.

[james s]

...

[HunanForeignGuy]

[phis]

And once again, an interesting thread is about to degenerate into a flaming war because of one poster's over-sensitive reaction to being told his information is wrong. At least you weren't called a liar for posting erroneous information! HFG only pointed out that you had got it wrong!

I don't always agree with HFG, but in this case he has very carefully pointed out why the facts were wrong, and backed this up with reference material. How does that make it a 'personal war'?

Can we get back on topic? I think the OP has already been advised how he/she can remedy the tax paid/unpaid situation in the worse case scenario. However, I still have a question: Does anyone have personal experience of being asked for 'confirmation of tax paid' before being allowed to transfer money abroad?

[bendan]

[HunanForeignGuy]