China VAT standard rate (增值税基本税率)
China VAT standard rate (增值税基本税率) is 13 percent, in force since 1 Apr 2019. Last checked against the official source on 23 Jul 2026.
Standard-rate value-added tax on goods and most tangible-property leasing/imports, the highest of China's three general-taxpayer VAT brackets. Administered by the State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局); the underlying rate schedule (13% / 9% / 6%) was set in 2019 and codified by the Value-Added Tax Law of the PRC (中华人民共和国增值税法), effective 1 Jan 2026.
| Current value | 13 percent |
|---|---|
| In force from | 2019-04-01 |
| Official source | 国家税务总局 (State Taxation Administration) — Tax System overview: '...the original 16% and 10% VAT rates were adjusted to 13% and 9% respectively to form the current three-level VAT rate schedule of 13%, 9% and 6%'; codified by 《中华人民共和国增值税法》 effective 1 Jan 2026 |
| Last verified | 2026-07-23 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
13% is the STANDARD (highest) rate and applies to sales/imports of most goods, processing/repair/replacement services, and tangible movable property leasing. The 13% level took effect 1 Apr 2019 when the previous 16% top rate was cut (the 2018 cut had earlier moved 17%->16%). China's three general-taxpayer brackets: 13% (goods), 9% (transport, postal, telecom basic, construction, real-estate sales/leasing, and certain goods e.g. agricultural products, utilities), 6% (modern/financial/lifestyle 'services' and intangibles). Exports are generally zero-rated. Small-scale taxpayers use a simplified 3% levy rate (temporarily reduced to 1% under relief extended through 31 Dec 2027) and cannot credit input VAT. The Value-Added Tax Law of the PRC (passed by the NPC Standing Committee 25 Dec 2024; implementing regulations passed by State Council 19 Dec 2025) took effect 1 Jan 2026 and explicitly PRESERVES the existing 13% / 9% / 6% three-tier structure — it consolidates prior State Council regulations into primary legislation rather than changing rates. The STA English 'Tax System' page above is the served source; the full VAT Law and implementing regulations are in the STA policy library at fgk.chinatax.gov.cn.
Get it programmatically
curl https://asiaref.dev/v1/cn/vat
# $0.005 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://asiaref.dev/v1/cn/vat/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://asiaref.dev/provenance/cn/vatOther China series: PBOC Loan Prime Rate (1-year LPR / 贷款市场报价利率) · VAT registration threshold · Minimum wage (no national rate — province-set; highest is Shanghai) · Public holidays (国家法定节假日 + State Council annual arrangement) · CPI inflation (year-on-year, 居民消费价格指数) · Enterprise Income Tax standard rate (企业所得税) · Withholding tax rates · Statutory default interest (法定利率 / 逾期利息) · Individual Income Tax · Statutory social-insurance contributions
The same figure elsewhere: Hong Kong · India · Indonesia · Iraq · Israel · all 28