Income Tax Calculator
2026 China personal income tax calculation with social insurance and special additional deductions
Annual Tax Rate Table
| Level | Annual Taxable Income | Rate | Quick Deduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 - 36,000 | 3% | 0 |
| 2 | 36,000 - 144,000 | 10% | 2,520 |
| 3 | 144,000 - 300,000 | 20% | 16,920 |
| 4 | 300,000 - 420,000 | 25% | 31,920 |
| 5 | 420,000 - 660,000 | 30% | 52,920 |
| 6 | 660,000 - 960,000 | 35% | 85,920 |
| 7 | > 960,000 | 45% | 181,920 |
What Is the Income Tax Calculator?
Income Tax Calculator is an online tool built on China's personal income tax 'cumulative withholding method'. It applies the 7-level annual progressive rate table to year-to-date taxable income, works out each month's withholding step by step, and presents the full 12-month withholding process and net take-home pay in a single view.
Calculation formula: cumulative taxable income through month n = (monthly salary - social insurance - special additional deductions - threshold) x n; current-month withholding = cumulative tax due through month n - tax already withheld in prior months. The annual rate table has 7 brackets from 3% to 45%, and the bracket and quick deduction are matched against the year-to-date taxable income.
Core features: cumulative withholding calculation (apply the annual rate table to the running annual total, month by month), social insurance deduction (custom amounts supported), special additional deductions (7 items including children's education, mortgage interest, and elderly support), and a monthly withholding table with an annual total row.
The threshold is 5,000 CNY per month (60,000 CNY per year). The tool assumes you stay employed all year with the same monthly salary and deductions. All calculations run locally in your browser, so salary and deduction inputs are never uploaded to any server.
How to Use
How to Use
- Enter gross monthly salary (in CNY)
- Enter personal social insurance contribution (consult HR for accurate amount)
- Enter special additional deductions (children's education, mortgage interest, etc.)
- The threshold defaults to 5,000 CNY and rarely needs changing
- Click 'Calculate' to view results
- View the annual tax, annual net take-home, and the monthly withholding table
Special Additional Deductions Guide
Tax Estimate Tips
- Use current payroll and deduction figures when possible; small changes in insurance contributions can change taxable income and final net salary.
- This calculator is for estimation and comparison. Confirm filing rules, deduction eligibility, and annual reconciliation details with a tax professional or local authority.
Use Cases
How the Calculation Works
China's resident individual wage and salary income currently follows a 'cumulative withholding + annual reconciliation' model: the year's comprehensive income is taxed under the 7-level progressive rate table, withheld month by month against the running total, and reconciled in the March-June window of the following year. 'Progressive' means different income brackets carry different marginal rates - every extra CNY is taxed at the rate of the bracket it falls into, not the entire income taxed at one bracket - so crossing a bracket threshold never creates the 'earn more, take home less' trap.
Taxable income = gross salary - threshold (per the latest policy) - employee's share of social insurance - special additional deductions - other legally allowed deductions. Social insurance (pension, medical, unemployment, work injury, maternity + housing fund) is paid on a city-defined contribution base and rate, and the employee's share is pre-tax deductible; the employer's share is not counted as personal income. Special additional deductions currently cover 7 items (children's education, continuing education, major medical expenses, mortgage interest, housing rent, elderly support, infant care under 3), with their standards, caps, and optional sharing rules following the latest policy.
Monthly cumulative withholding: starting from the beginning of the year, income and deductions are accumulated month by month; the running taxable income is looked up in the annual rate table to get the cumulative tax due so far, and the current month's withholding is the cumulative tax minus what was already withheld in prior months. The practical effect is that the monthly withholding shifts as the cumulative total crosses thresholds, instead of being recomputed independently each month.
Year-end bonuses currently have two taxation options: 'separate' divides the bonus by 12 to find the rate on the monthly table and applies bonus x rate - quick deduction; 'combined' merges the bonus into the year's comprehensive income and applies the annual rate table. The two paths' net cost varies with the individual's income level, so the only way to know which is cheaper is to actually run the numbers.
- 7-level progressive structure: different income brackets have different marginal rates, each extra CNY is taxed at the rate of its own bracket, and crossing a bracket never reduces total take-home pay.
- Taxable income = gross salary - threshold (per latest policy) - social insurance - special additional deductions - other legally allowed deductions.
- Cumulative withholding: each month's withholding is the cumulative tax looked up from the running total minus prior months' withholding, so the monthly figure changes over time.
- Social insurance is paid on a city-defined base and rate; the employee's share is pre-tax deductible, the employer's share is not part of personal income.
- There are 7 special additional deduction items today; standards, caps, and sharing rules follow the latest policy and must be filed through the personal income tax app.
- Year-end bonus can be taxed separately or combined with comprehensive income; the break-even point and which path wins depend on the individual's income, so run both scenarios.
- The annual reconciliation runs March-June of the following year, and most taxpayers either receive a refund or owe additional tax; the tax authority's calculation is the authoritative one, and this tool is for estimation only.
Examples
20,000 CNY monthly salary, full cumulative-withholding walk-through
Input:
Gross salary (monthly): 20,000 CNY
Social insurance (monthly): 3,000 CNY
Special additional deduction: 2,000 CNY
Threshold: 5,000 CNY
Monthly taxable base = 20,000 - 3,000 - 2,000 - 5,000 = 10,000 CNY
Monthly cumulative withholding (annual brackets: <=36,000 = 3%, 36,000-144,000 = 10%):
Month Cumulative income Rate Withholding Cumulative withheld
1 10,000 3% 300 300
2 20,000 3% 300 600
3 30,000 3% 300 900
4 40,000 10% 580 1,480 <- cumulative crosses 36,000, bracket jumps
5 50,000 10% 1,000 2,480
...
12 120,000 10% 1,000 9,480
Annual totals:
Annual tax = cumulative tax through Dec = 9,480 CNY
Annual net take-home = (20,000 - 3,000) x 12 - 9,480 = 194,520 CNY
Annual effective rate = 9,480 / 240,000 = 3.95%
In April the cumulative taxable income of 40,000 CNY crosses the 36,000
bracket boundary, pushing the marginal rate from 3% up to 10%. The
monthly withholding rises from 300 to 580, and from May on it settles
at 1,000. Take-home is 16,700 CNY/month in January-March and 16,000
CNY/month in May-December - same salary, more take-home in the first
half of the year.Cumulative withholding vs monthly-independent tax: same total, different distribution
Same inputs: monthly salary 20,000, social insurance 3,000, special additional deduction 2,000, threshold 5,000
Monthly taxable income = 10,000 CNY (monthly bracket 3,000-12,000, rate 10%, QD 210)
Monthly-independent tax (each month computed on its own):
Monthly tax = 10,000 x 10% - 210 = 790 CNY
Annual total = 790 x 12 = 9,480 CNY
Monthly take-home = 20,000 - 3,000 - 790 = 16,210 CNY (constant each month)
Cumulative withholding (this tool's method):
Annual tax = 9,480 CNY (equal to the figure above)
Monthly withholding = 300, 300, 300, 580, 1,000, 1,000, ... (low early, high later)
Conclusion: with identical monthly income, the two methods produce the
same annual total of 9,480 CNY. The only difference is how the
withholding is distributed across the year:
- Monthly-independent: a flat 790 CNY each month, take-home 16,210 CNY every month
- Cumulative withholding: 300 CNY in January-March, 1,000 CNY from
April on - more take-home in the first half, less in the second half
The annual total is unchanged; cumulative withholding simply
redistributes the tax "low early, high later".High-income scenario: crossing multiple brackets within a year
Input: monthly salary 40,000 CNY, social insurance 4,000 CNY, special additional deduction 2,000 CNY, threshold 5,000 CNY
Monthly taxable base = 40,000 - 4,000 - 2,000 - 5,000 = 29,000 CNY
Monthly cumulative income and bracket jumps:
Month Cumulative income Rate Withholding
1 29,000 3% 870
2 58,000 10% 2,410 <- crosses 36,000
4 116,000 10% 2,900
6 174,000 20% 5,800 <- crosses 144,000
11 319,000 25% 6,750 <- crosses 300,000
12 348,000 25% 7,250
Annual tax = 348,000 x 25% - 31,920 = 87,000 - 31,920 = 55,080 CNY
Annual gross = 40,000 x 12 = 480,000 CNY
Annual effective rate = 55,080 / 480,000 = 11.48%
High earners cross 3% -> 10% -> 20% -> 25% in sequence over the year,
and the withholding jumps sharply in the months where a bracket is
crossed. This is also why take-home drops steeply in the second half
of the year for high-income earners.Stacking multiple special additional deductions for annual tax savings
Household: married, one child under 3, first-home mortgage,
supporting both parents (only child, so 3,000 CNY full)
Stacked monthly deductions:
Infant care (<3): 2,000 CNY
Children's education: 2,000 CNY (one child)
Mortgage interest: 1,000 CNY (first home, max 240 months)
Elderly support: 3,000 CNY (only child supporting both parents)
--------------------------------
Total special additional deduction: 8,000 CNY/month
On a 25,000 CNY monthly salary with 2,500 CNY social insurance (annual, under cumulative withholding):
No special deduction: monthly base = 25,000 - 2,500 - 0 - 5,000 = 17,500
annual cumulative income = 17,500 x 12 = 210,000
annual bracket: 144,000-300,000, rate 20%, QD 16,920
annual tax = 210,000 x 20% - 16,920 = 25,080 CNY
With 8,000 deduction: monthly base = 25,000 - 2,500 - 8,000 - 5,000 = 9,500
annual cumulative income = 9,500 x 12 = 114,000
annual bracket: 36,000-144,000, rate 10%, QD 2,520
annual tax = 114,000 x 10% - 2,520 = 8,880 CNY
Annual tax saving = 25,080 - 8,880 = 16,200 CNY
Bracket shift: annual cumulative income drops from 210,000 to 114,000, falling from the 20% bracket into the 10% bracket
The 8,000 CNY special additional deduction not only lowers the monthly
taxable base by 8,000, it also pulls the annual cumulative income from
210,000 back to 114,000, crossing the 144,000 boundary and dropping
from the 20% bracket into the 10% bracket. So the saving is far more
than 8,000 x 12 x 10% = 9,600 CNY; the extra 6,600 CNY comes from the
marginal-rate reduction brought by the bracket drop.FAQ
Which tax rules does this calculator use?
It covers China's individual income tax on wages and salaries, using the cumulative withholding method: the 7-level annual rate table is applied to year-to-date taxable income, with a 5,000 CNY monthly basic deduction and deductions for social insurance, the housing fund, and the special additional deductions listed on the page.
Are social insurance and housing fund included?
Yes, when you enter those amounts or rates, they are deducted before taxable income is calculated. Actual contribution bases and rates vary by city and employer, so use the figures from your payslip or local policy when accuracy matters.
Are special additional deductions included?
The page supports the common special additional deductions listed in the form, such as children's education, continuing education, major medical expenses, housing loan interest or rent, elderly support, infant care. Eligibility and caps still depend on official rules.
Why does my actual payslip differ?
Real payroll may use cumulative withholding, city-specific contribution bases, employer benefits, rounding rules, year-to-date adjustments, and HR corrections. Treat the result as an estimate for salary planning, then compare it with your employer's payroll system or official tax app.
Are the 2026 brackets current?
The page is based on the tax rates and assumptions stated in its description. If China's personal income tax law, deduction standards, or local social insurance policies change, verify the result against the latest official notice before using it for filing or payroll decisions.
Can I use it for bonuses, labor service income, or business income?
Not directly. Annual bonuses, labor remuneration, royalties, author's remuneration, and business income can use different tax treatments or annual reconciliation rules. Use this page mainly for monthly wage and salary estimates; it does not currently support those income types.
Is my salary information uploaded?
No. The calculation runs in your browser, and salary, deduction, and insurance inputs are not uploaded or saved by the page.