China capital gains tax calculator

For a resident individual outside business activity, income from the transfer of assets is taxed as income from transfer of property at the flat 20% of the Individual Income Tax Law Article 3(3), with taxable income being the transfer income less the original value and reasonable expenses. The 3% to 45% progressive scale is comprehensive income (salary and similar) and does not apply to these disposals.

Yes for shares obtained from the public issuance and transfer market and transferred on the Shanghai or Shenzhen Stock Exchange: 财税字〔1998〕61号 temporarily exempts the gain and 财税〔2009〕167号 Article 8 confirms it. Restricted shares (限售股) are carved out of the exemption and taxed at 20%, with the original value plus reasonable taxes and fees assessed at 15% of the transfer income where the cost cannot be evidenced.

No. China computes each transfer on its own original value and reasonable expenses and taxes transfer-of-property income per transaction or month. There is no loss offset between transfers and no carryforward, so a loss on one disposal does not reduce another or your other income.

China taxes an individual by income category, not by a single capital-gains rate. Income from the transfer of assets, which the IIT Implementation Regulations Article 6(8) define to include marketable securities, equity and immovable property, is taxed at the flat 20% of IIT Law Article 3(3), with taxable income = transfer income less original value less reasonable expenses (Article 6(5)). The 3% to 45% comprehensive scale and the 5% to 35% business scale cover other income categories and do not reach a private investor's share, fund or property disposals. The tax year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December (Article 1), and foreign-currency income converts at the central parity rate (Article 16). The VAT Law of the PRC, adopted 2024-12-25, came into force on 1 January 2026 and keeps the 13%/9%/6% schedule, without changing the capital-gains rules here; from 1 September 2026 foreign individuals' dividends from foreign-invested enterprises are taxed at 20% (MOF/STA Announcement No.27 of 2026), which does not affect a Chinese-resident individual. Sources: https://www.chinatax.gov.cn/eng/c102962/c102967/c102997/c103004/c5245849/content.html and https://www.chinatax.gov.cn/eng/c102962/c102967/c102997/c103004/c5245844/content.html.

Listed A-shares and B-shares: income from an individual's transfer of shares of listed companies is temporarily exempt from individual income tax under 财税字〔1998〕61号 (in force since 1 January 1997 and still listed as an effective policy), and 财税〔2009〕167号 Article 8 confirms the exemption for shares obtained from the public issuance and transfer market and transferred on the Shanghai Stock Exchange or the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, which is the statutory edge that matters. Restricted shares (限售股) are carved out of the exemption: Article 1 taxes their transfer as income from transfer of property at 20%, and Article 3 assesses the original value plus reasonable taxes and fees at 15% of the transfer income where the taxpayer cannot provide complete, truthful evidence of the original value. Article 6 makes restricted shares transfer first when the holder has both restricted and freely tradable shares. IIT Law Article 12 taxes transfer-of-asset income per transaction or month, withheld through the securities company. Sources: https://www.chinatax.gov.cn/chinatax/n810341/n810765/n812166/200912/c1086468/content.html and http://zhejiang.chinatax.gov.cn/art/1998/3/30/art_8409_11742.html.

Hong Kong and overseas listings: MOF, STA and CSRC Announcement No.23 of 2023 (21 August 2023) temporarily exempts mainland individual investors' price-difference income from transferring Hong Kong-listed stocks through Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, and Hong Kong fund shares through the Mutual Recognition of Funds; it is valid until 31 December 2027. H-shares held outside Stock Connect and US or other foreign-listed Chinese shares fall outside both the 1998 exemption (whose 2009 confirmation is tied to the SSE and SZSE) and the 2023 announcement, so this calculator taxes them at the flat 20% as transfer-of-property income: MOF/STA Announcement 2020 No.3 Article 1(7) brings foreign-source transfer income within the charge, Article 2(3) taxes it separately and Article 3 gives a foreign tax credit. That reading is an inference from the scope of the reliefs plus Announcement 2020 No.3; no government or Big-4 English page states the non-Stock-Connect result in terms, and B-share treatment likewise follows from the document wording only. Sources: https://www.chinatax.gov.cn/eng/c102962/c102967/c102997/c103004/c5245814/content.html and https://www.chinatax.gov.cn/chinatax/n810219/n810744/n3752930/n3752974/c5143076/content.html.

Unlisted equity: the transfer of equity in an enterprise or organisation established within China is taxed at the flat 20% on transfer income less the original value and reasonable expenses. SAT Announcement 2014 No.67 (Administrative Measures for IIT on Income from Equity Transfer, trial; effective 1 January 2015) governs; Article 4 is quoted in the STA 12366 service answer, and Article 2 covers a natural-person shareholder's equity or shares in an enterprise established within China, excluding sole proprietorships and partnerships. The arm's-length declared price, the assessment triggers and the net-asset deemed-income method (Articles 11 to 15) were not read in an official text at capture time and are a flagged gap, so do not quote them as sourced. IIT Law Article 15 requires the market-entity registration authority to examine the IIT payment certificate before registering an equity transfer. Sources: https://12366.chinatax.gov.cn/nszx/onlinemessage/detail?id=29a1555678e740f7a3769a49def9ec62 and https://www.chinatax.gov.cn/eng/c102962/c102967/c102997/c103004/c5245849/content.html.

Real property: the gain is taxed at 20% on transfer income less the original value and reasonable expenses; 国税发〔2006〕108号 Article 2 allows the original value, the taxes paid on transfer and reasonable expenses, with renovation cost capped at 15% of the original value for public or affordable housing and 10% for commercial housing. Where the taxpayer does not provide complete, accurate original-value evidence, Article 3 lets the tax authority levy at a deemed proportion of the transfer income, fixed by the provincial tax bureau within 1% to 3%. The five-year sole-residence exemption (财税字〔1999〕278号, carried in Article 5) exempts the transfer of a self-used home held more than five years that is the family's only living property. IIT is settled at the property-transaction window together with the other transfer taxes (Article 4). Source: https://shanghai.chinatax.gov.cn/zcfw/zcfgk/grsds/200702/t288900.html.

Housing deed tax from 1 December 2024: MOF/STA/MOHURD Announcement No.16 of 2024 (dated 2024-11-12) sets deed tax on an individual's only family home at 1% where the area is 140 square metres or less and 1.5% above, on a second family home at 1% at 140 square metres or less and 2% above, and unifies Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen to the national two-year VAT exemption, so a home held two years or more is VAT-exempt. The announcement repeals 财税〔2016〕23号 and lets pre-2024-12-01 sales or purchases not yet declared follow the new rules. Deed tax is paid before registration and the registration authority checks the payment certificate (Deed Tax Law Articles 9 to 11); the statutory range is 3% to 5% (Article 3) before the housing discounts. Sources: http://czj.yancheng.gov.cn/art/2024/11/12/art_22427_4270977.html and https://www.chinatax.gov.cn/eng/c102962/c102967/c102997/c103009/c5245755/content.html.

VAT on housing: an individual who sells housing purchased less than two years ago pays a 5% levy rate on the full amount, and a sale of housing held two years or more is VAT-exempt (财税〔2016〕36号 Annex 3, item 5). Originally the two-year exemption applied outside Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, where a two-year non-ordinary-housing sale was taxed at 5% on the difference; Announcement No.16 of 2024 unified the first-tier cities to the normal rule from 1 December 2024. Source: http://ningxia.chinatax.gov.cn/art/2024/10/30/art_10996_347339.html.

Funds, ETFs and REITs: an individual investor's price-difference income from subscribing to and redeeming fund units is temporarily not subject to individual income tax (财税〔2002〕128号); an individual investor is exempt from VAT when transferring a public fund (财税〔2016〕36号); and buying and selling closed-end securities investment funds is exempt from stamp duty (财税〔2004〕173号). Public infrastructure REITs are structured as public funds and, per the Zhejiang tax answer, enjoy the public-fund preferences; MOF/STA Announcement No.3 of 2022 Article 3 leaves the operation and distribution stages to existing tax law, so there is no separate individual REIT capital-gains rule. QDII-specific individual treatment was not located and is a flagged gap. Sources: https://zhejiang.chinatax.gov.cn/art/2021/6/30/art_11896_518270.html and http://www.yn.gov.cn/ztgg/lqhm/lqzc/gbhqwj/202206/t20220606_242945.html.

Crypto: 银发〔2021〕237号 (People's Bank of China with the Cyberspace Administration, Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate and six other agencies, 15 September 2021) provides that virtual currency has no legal-tender status, bans virtual-currency business activity and treats investment losses as the investor's own. It is a regulatory prohibition, not a tax rule. No SAT statement, circular or official English guidance was located that addresses the IIT treatment of individual crypto disposals, and no rate, threshold or loss rule was found. This calculator therefore shows no crypto figure and flags the position as unsourced; the ban does not create an exemption either. Source: https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2021-10/08/content_5641404.htm.

Losses and thresholds: there is no general capital-loss offset or carryforward for transfer-of-asset income. Article 6(5) computes each transfer against its own original value and reasonable expenses, and Article 12 taxes transfer-of-asset income per transaction or month; no provision permits a loss on one transfer to be set against a gain on another. This is a conclusion from the absence of a provision plus PwC's description, not an express prohibition. No annual capital-gains allowance was located. Foreign-source transfer income is computed separately and is not combined with domestic income (MOF/STA Announcement 2020 No.3 Article 2(3)), with a foreign tax credit within the credit limit (Article 3). The annual reconciliation window, 1 March to 30 June of the following year, covers comprehensive income and separately-computed foreign income, not withheld domestic capital gains. Sources: https://www.chinatax.gov.cn/eng/c102962/c102967/c102997/c103004/c5245849/content.html and https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/peoples-republic-of-china/individual/income-determination.