China Tax Residence: the rule, how days are counted, examples

Summary

A person with no domicile in China becomes a Chinese tax resident for a year by staying in China for 183 days or more in that calendar year. Only days with a full 24 hours in China count, so the day you arrive and the day you leave are not counted. A person whose home is in China is resident with any number of days. Reaching 183 days does not at once make your income from the whole world taxable: that happens only after six such years in a row with no single trip out of more than 30 days. The State Taxation Administration applies the rule.

Limit: 183 days or more
Period: The tax year, which is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December
A day counts when: You are in China for the full 24 hours of that day
Six-year rule: Worldwide income is taxed after 6 resident years with no trip out over 30 days
Law: Individual Income Tax Law, article 1; Announcement 34 of 2019
Run by: State Taxation Administration

Who it applies to

Foreign employees who work in China for part of the year or for several years.
Residents of Hong Kong and Macao who cross the border to work in mainland China during the week.
Business travellers who visit China many times a year.
Long-term foreign residents who want to keep their foreign income outside Chinese tax.
People whose family and household registration are in China but who work abroad.

The rule

Article 1 of the Individual Income Tax Law, in the version that applies from 1 January 2019, defines a resident individual in two ways. A person who has a domicile in China is resident. A person who has no domicile but has stayed in China for 183 days or more in total in a tax year is also resident. The tax year runs from 1 January to 31 December. Before 2019 the test was one full year of residence, so the 183-day line is a tighter rule.

Domicile does not mean a house you own. Article 2 of the Implementing Regulations describes it as habitual residence in China because of household registration, family or economic ties. A Chinese citizen who goes abroad to study or to work for some years and is expected to return normally keeps a domicile in China and stays resident. Most foreigners have no domicile in China, so for them the day count decides.

The days are counted under Announcement 34 of 2019, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration. A day counts as a day in China only when you are in China for the full 24 hours. A day on which you are in China for less than 24 hours, such as the day you arrive or the day you leave, is not counted.

A resident is in principle taxed on income from China and from abroad. For people with no domicile there is a large relief, often called the six-year rule, in article 4 of the Implementing Regulations and in Announcement 34. Your foreign income that is paid by foreign payers is exempt unless two things are both true: you stayed 183 days or more in each of the six years before the current year, and in none of those years did you leave China for more than 30 days in one trip. The count of years starts with 2019. A further rule in article 5 helps short-term visitors: with 90 days or fewer in a year, pay for work in China that is paid and borne by a foreign employer is exempt.

Why it exists

China changed to the 183-day test in 2019 to match the standard used in most tax treaties and to bring more long-stay foreigners into the resident group. The six-year rule and the 24-hour day count were added at the same time so that the change would not push away foreign workers and cross-border commuters from Hong Kong and Macao.

Counting the days

You count the days on which you were in mainland China for the full 24 hours, inside one calendar year. Days from all visits are added together.

Take one calendar year, for example 2026.
List every visit to mainland China with the arrival date and the departure date.
For each visit, leave out the arrival day and the departure day and count the full days between them.
Add the full days of all visits. With 183 or more, you are a resident for that year.
If you are resident, look at the six years before. Check whether each had 183 days or more and whether any had one trip out of more than 30 days.
Check whether you have a domicile in China, which makes you resident with any number of days.

How Countr counts it. Countr counts every day on which you were in China for any part of the day, from 1 January to 31 December. It allows 182 days and warns you 14 days before the limit. China itself counts only full 24-hour days, so arrival days, departure days and same-day trips are not counted under the rule. The app can therefore show more days than the tax office would count. It warns early and never late. The app does not judge domicile and does not follow the six-year rule.

Track China Tax Residence on your phone.

Countr finds your past trips in your photos and keeps counting from there.

Download on the App Store

Examples

One visit, counted the Chinese way

Julia flies into Shanghai on 3 March 2026 at 10:00 and flies out on 20 March 2026 at 15:00. She was in China on 18 calendar days. Under Announcement 34, the 3rd and the 20th do not count, because she was not in China for 24 hours on those days. The visit gives 16 days, from 4 March to 19 March. A person who makes many short trips loses two days from each trip in this way.

A weekly commuter from Hong Kong

Mr Wong lives in Hong Kong and works in Shenzhen. Every Monday morning he crosses into the mainland, and every Friday evening he goes home. Monday and Friday are not full days in China, so only Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday count. Over 50 working weeks that is 150 days, under 183. He has no domicile in the mainland, so he is a non-resident for the year, although he works there five days a week.

The sixth year and a 31-day trip

Kenji has lived in Beijing since 2019 and stays more than 183 days every year. If he never left for more than 30 days in one trip from 2019 to 2024, then in 2025 his income from the whole world became taxable in China. Suppose that in 2024 he spent 31 days in a row in Japan. Then 2024 breaks the chain, his foreign income paid from abroad stays exempt in 2025, and the count of years starts again.

Exceptions

A person with a domicile in China is resident with any number of days, including a Chinese citizen who works or studies abroad for a time.
A resident with no domicile is exempt on foreign income paid by foreign payers until six resident years in a row have passed with no single trip out of more than 30 days.
A person with no domicile who stays 90 days or fewer in a year is exempt on pay for work in China that is paid and borne by an employer outside China.
A tax treaty, or the arrangements between the mainland and Hong Kong or Macao, can extend that 90-day relief to 183 days and can decide residence when two places claim you.
Days of less than 24 hours in China never count towards the 183 days.

Common misconceptions

“After 183 days China taxes all my income from everywhere.”: Not at once. For a person with no domicile, foreign income paid from abroad stays exempt until six years in a row with 183 days or more have passed, and none of them had one trip out of more than 30 days.
“The day I land counts as a day in China.”: Since 2019 only days with a full 24 hours in China count. Arrival days and departure days are left out.
“I own no property in China, so I have no domicile there.”: Domicile is about habitual residence through household registration, family or economic ties, not about owning a home. A Chinese citizen abroad usually keeps a domicile in China.
“The six-year count started when I first moved to China.”: Announcement 34 of 2019 says the six years are counted from 2019. Years before 2019 are not part of it.

Questions and answers

Does a day trip from Hong Kong to Shenzhen count?

No. You are in mainland China for less than 24 hours on that day, so the day is not counted towards the 183 days.

Is exactly 183 days enough to be resident?

Yes. Article 1 says 183 days or more in the tax year, so the 183rd full day makes you a resident individual for that year.

How do I restart the six-year count?

Leave China for more than 30 days in one single trip during a year, or stay fewer than 183 days in a year. Either one breaks the chain, and the six years are counted again from the next year.

Do days in Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan count as days in China?

No. For this tax rule, China means mainland China. Hong Kong and Macao have their own tax systems, and the mainland has separate tax arrangements with them.

I stay under 183 days. Do I still pay Chinese tax?

Yes, on income from China. A non-resident pays tax on income sourced in China, such as pay for days worked there, unless the 90-day relief or a tax treaty exempts it.

Can I be resident in China and in my home country in the same year?

Yes. If both countries treat you as resident and they have a tax treaty, the treaty's tie-breaker tests decide where you are resident for the treaty. The tax office looks at your whole situation.

Sources

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This page explains the rule and how the days are counted. It is not legal or tax advice. The authority decides each case on its own facts.