Looking ahead - KPMG's China Special Focus launched

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Looking ahead - KPMG's China Special Focus launched

A series of important changes are underway in China

As the Chinese zodiac cycle moves into a new 12-year cycle, the changes across the tax landscape are transitioning in a similar fashion.

As the Chinese zodiac cycle moves into a new 12-year cycle, the changes across the tax landscape are transitioning in a similar fashion.

The ninth edition of KPMG's China – Looking Ahead chronicles a busy a year. It also provides an insight into how the tax policies are being designed to interact with international developments. In the following chapters, KPMG's experts explain how tax policy is evolving in mainland China and Hong Kong SAR.

2020 is the Year of the Rat, an animal that is believed to be clever and successful – much like the innovative data and analytics techniques being developed by the State Taxation Administration. There also has been a shift from document-based analysis carried out by tax auditors, to more efficient digital tools. This guide's VAT chapters make some bold predictions about how data and analytics will grow stronger in the coming year, indicating how taxpayers may need to adapt.

With the year of the rat also symbolising wealth and surplus, it is apt that the Chinese government is continuing its efforts to open the economy to inbound and outbound investment – particularly as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). However, this guide's outbound chapter, as well as the chapters on Hong Kong SAR, M&A and R&D, covers the tax challenges Chinese companies face along the BRI countries.

Separately, achieving the quiet and peaceful life that the rat represents may be difficult amid continuing trade tensions with the US and disagreements across the Inclusive Framework on how to tax the digital economy. This guide's digital economy chapters dive into China's high-tech sector and how look inward at domestic tax law and administration issues to be resolved for the country's digital industry.

Meanwhile, the topics of customs and trade policies, as well the evolution of transfer pricing arrangements and tax treaties are explored across a range of chapters.

The past 12 years and the 2019 Year of the Pig have been eventful, but the momentum will continue into 2020. We hope that the ninth edition of KPMG's China – Looking Ahead will be a valuable tool in guiding you through the developments.

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

The threat of 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods coincides with new Brazilian legal powers to adopt retaliatory economic measures, local experts tell ITR
The country’s chancellor appears to have backtracked from previous pillar two scepticism; in other news, Donald Trump threatened Russia with 100% tariffs
In its latest G20 update, the OECD also revealed tense discussions with the US where the ‘significant threat’ of Section 899 was highlighted
The tax agency has increased compliance yield from wealthy individuals but cannot identify how much tax is paid by UK billionaires, the committee also claimed
Saffery cautioned that documentation requirements in new government proposals must be limited if medium-sized companies are not exempted from TP
The global minimum tax deal is not viable without US participation, Friedrich Merz has argued
Section 899 of the ‘one big beautiful’ bill would have spelled disaster for many international investors into the US, but following its shelving, attention turns to the fate of the OECD’s pillars
DLA Piper’s co-head of tax for the US and Latin America tells ITR about her fervent belief in equal access to the law, loving yoga, and paternal inspirations
Tax expert Craig Hillier agrees with the comparison of pillar two to using a sledgehammer to crack a nut
The amount is reported to be up 57% from the £5.6bn that the UK tax agency believes was underpaid in the previous year
Gift this article