China taps AI for tax system modernization drive

China's tax authorities have rolled out 16 targeted measures to streamline tax and fee processing, leveraging cutting-edge AI technology as the core driver for the 13th consecutive "Spring Breeze Action to Facilitate Citizens' Handling of Tax Affairs", a spokesperson for the State Taxation Administration (STA) said.

In April this year, the STA issued a new guideline to launch this year's service measures under the long-running annual campaign. The 2026 package has been fully implemented, focusing on smart tax filing, digital service upgrades, tailored assistance, proactive compliance guidance and cross-departmental cooperation.

At the heart of this digital push is the adoption of advanced AI large models. The Nanshan District Tax Bureau in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, has launched an intelligent assistant on the interactive platform of its electronic tax bureau, providing scenario-based and Q&A-style guidance to automatically deliver customized solutions for taxpayers and fee payers.

Since its introduction, the bureau has seen a sharp rise in service access rates, cutting the average waiting time to just two minutes and lifting the query resolution rate to a notable 89 percent.

In a similar digital innovation, the Zhaoqing Tax Bureau has fully integrated interactive tax services into both the web and mobile versions of the Individual Income Tax (IIT) system. It has built a comprehensive 24/7 "AI plus human" dual service system, where taxpayers can chat with "Yueyue", an intelligent robot that offers instant answers to basic tax questions.

For complex processes such as annual tax reconciliation and special additional deductions, the system smoothly connects users to human staff, who provide support via text, images, audio, video and remote assistance. By early July, more than 92 percent of consultations were handled automatically, greatly improving the user experience.

Across the country, tax authorities have updated electronic tax bureaus and mobile applications, expanded the auto-filling function on the IIT app, and revised tax declaration forms to align with new value-added tax policies, simplifying the entire process.

Targeted and personalized services now cover all types of taxpayers. In Qinghai province, remote energy projects receive on-site support throughout their development, while Hainan province has rolled out island-wide bilingual tax services, assisting more than 2,300 newly established foreign-funded enterprises and processing 32,700 tax-related cases for expatriates in the first six months. Eight paperless departure tax refund measures have also been introduced, pushing the number of duty-free refund shops nationwide to 16,000 — more than four times the figure at the start of last year.

A major change is the shift from post-event supervision to early risk alerts, the STA spokesperson said. The Xihu district tax bureau in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, helped 60 enterprises correct filing mistakes and recover their credit scores. Hunan province has held special training sessions on VAT super deductions and research and development expense deductions to clarify complicated rules.

"By identifying risks in advance, tax authorities have given us much more confidence in staying compliant," said a manager at a local advanced manufacturing company.

Cross-departmental coordination has been strengthened. In Hexi district of Tianjin, officials have launched "pay and get invoice instantly" services for daily consumption scenes such as dining and parking. The STA has also set up data-sharing systems with water resources, commerce and natural resources authorities, offering one-stop social security payment services for flexible employment workers.

"We will stay committed to a people-centered approach, ensure all pro-business and people-friendly policies take full effect and earn the trust of taxpayers while advancing high-quality tax modernization," the STA spokesperson said.

renqi@chinadaily.com.cn