The essence of personal income tax refund is that after the end of a tax year, the tax authorities will conduct a comprehensive settlement of the taxes we have paid, refunding any excess and making up for any excess. To put it simply, you add all your income in a year (including four comprehensive incomes such as wages and salaries, labor remuneration, author remuneration, and royalties), and then subtract various deductible items, such as a basic deduction of 60,000 yuan (that is, 5,000 yuan per month), special deductions such as five insurances and one housing fund, special additional deductions for children’s education, supporting the elderly, renting a house, etc., and then calculate the actual tax you should pay according to the applicable tax rate. Finally, compare the actual tax payable with the tax you have usually prepaid. If the prepaid amount is too much, the tax will be refunded to you; if the prepaid amount is less, sorry, you will have to pay the tax.
Place of filing: "Personal Income Tax" APP, filing time: generally March-April of the following year (such as filing for 2024 in March-April of 2025)
Can you get a tax refund? Look at the conditions first
After understanding the basic concepts of tax refund, I believe everyone can’t wait to know whether they can get a tax refund. Don’t worry, here we will explain in detail the common situations where you can get a tax refund.
The income does not reach the threshold but the tax has been paid in advance
If your annual comprehensive income is less than 60,000 yuan, but you have paid personal income tax in advance, you can apply for a tax refund. Just like Xiao Li, who has just graduated and started working in July 2024, with a monthly salary of 4,500 yuan and no other income. A total of 90 yuan of personal income tax was prepaid from July to December, but the annual income was only 27,000 yuan, which was far lower than the standard of 60,000 yuan. In this case, Xiao Li can apply for a refund of the 90 yuan of tax paid in advance.
Inadequate declaration of special additional deductions
In order to reduce the burden on our taxpayers, the state has set up a number of special additional deductions for children's education, continuing education, serious illness medical treatment, housing loan interest, housing rent, and supporting the elderly. If you meet these deduction conditions in 2024 but fail to declare it when prepaying taxes, or declare it but do not fully deduct it, you can make a supplementary declaration during the final settlement and apply for a tax refund. For example, Xiao Zhang’s child started attending kindergarten in 2024 and met the special additional deduction conditions for children’s education, which allowed him to deduct 1,000 yuan per month. However, he forgot to declare it when he paid the tax in advance. In this way, he may receive a tax refund after he supplementally declares this deduction during the annual settlement.
Too much prepaid tax
When the prepaid tax exceeds your actual annual tax payable, you can apply for a refund of the overpayment. For example, Xiao Wang, who is engaged in freelance work, received a lot of labor remuneration in 2024. Every time he receives labor remuneration, the tax rate withheld in advance is relatively high. However, after calculating the annual comprehensive income, the tax rate applicable to him is not that high, which results in him paying too much tax in advance. After the annual calculation, Xiao Wang can apply for a refund of the overpaid tax.
Employment, retirement, or no income for some months during the year
If the deductible expenses of RMB 60,000, special deductions such as "three insurances and one housing fund", special additional deductions such as children's education, enterprise (occupational) annuities, commercial health insurance, tax-deferred pension insurance, etc. are insufficient due to reasons such as employment, retirement in the middle of the year, or no income for part of the month, you can also apply for a tax refund. For example, Xiao Zhao was unemployed in the first half of 2024 and found a job again in July. His monthly salary is 8,000 yuan, he personally pays 1,500 yuan for "three insurances and one fund", and enjoys a special additional deduction of 1,500 yuan for housing rent every month. Since there was no income in the first half of the year, Xiao Zhao could not fully enjoy the deduction of expenses and various deductions. During the annual calculation, Xiao Zhao could make additional deductions and then apply for a tax refund.
Not employed by the employer, only receiving labor remuneration, author remuneration, and royalties.
This group of people needs to handle various pre-tax deductions through annual calculations. For example, Xiao Sun, a freelance writer, has no fixed job unit in 2024 and only earns remuneration income from writing articles for some magazines. Although taxes have been prepaid when receiving royalties, Xiaosun can deduct basic deductions, special deductions, special additional deductions, etc. during the annual settlement, recalculate the tax payable, and may receive a tax refund.
Next, I will teach you step by step how to complete the tax refund declaration.
First, download: "Personal Income Tax" APP on your mobile phone. If you have registered and logged in before, you can directly enter your account password or log in quickly through fingerprints, face scans, etc.; if this is your first time, you must register an account first. The registration method is also very simple. There are two options: face recognition registration. This method is suitable for users who have registered with resident ID cards. Just follow the prompts, let the mobile phone capture your face in real time, and then compare it with the photos retained by the police for verification. After the verification is passed, you can complete the real-name registration; registration code authentication registration. This method is applicable to all types of documents. However, you must first go to the nearest tax service hall with a valid ID card and other supporting materials to perform real-name authentication registration, apply for the issuance of a registration code, and then use this registration code in the APP. Register an account in.
Enter the declaration portal
After successfully logging in, you will see the home page of the APP. Find the topic "2024 Comprehensive Income Annual Summary" on the homepage, click "Start Declaration", and then select "2024" as the declaration year to enter the declaration process.
Check income data
After entering the declaration page, the system will automatically bring out your 2024 income tax data. Carefully check various income information, such as wages, salaries, labor remuneration, royalties, royalties, etc. If you find that the income data is incorrect, or there are income records that do not belong to you, don’t panic. Contact the withholding agent for verification first. If the withholding agent refuses to make corrections, or you are unable to contact the withholding agent because your identity has been used fraudulently, then you can appeal to the tax authorities through the Personal Income Tax APP, the Natural Person Electronic Taxation Bureau website, etc. When making an appeal, remember to read the appeal instructions carefully to ensure that the appeal information is true, accurate, and complete. At the same time, relevant supporting materials should be kept for subsequent verification by the tax authorities.
Fill in the special additional deduction
The next step is to fill in the special additional deduction information. This is a key aspect of tax refund and must be taken seriously. Click the "Special Additional Deduction" option on the declaration page to enter the special additional deduction reporting interface. If you have previously filled in the special additional deduction information for 2024, the system will automatically bring it out, and you only need to check whether the information is accurate. If there are errors in the information, click the "Modify" button to correct it; if there are special additional deduction items that meet the conditions but have not been reported, click the "Add" button and fill in the relevant information truthfully according to the system prompts.
Here is a review of the seven special additional deduction items: Children's education, each child can be deducted 2,000 yuan per month, applicable from kindergarten to doctoral students; continuing education, academic (degree) continuing education is deducted 400 yuan per month, and continuing education for professional qualifications is deducted 3,600 yuan in the year when the certificate is obtained; serious illness medical treatment, within the scope of the medical insurance catalog, the part of the personal out-of-pocket that exceeds 15,000 yuan is deducted according to the actual amount, and the maximum is not more than 80,000 Yuan; housing loan interest, first home loan interest is deducted 1,000 yuan per month; housing rent, depending on the size of the city, 1,500 yuan, 1,100 yuan or 800 yuan is deducted per month; for supporting the elderly, only children are deducted 3,000 yuan per month, and non-only children and siblings are deducted sharedly, with no more than 1,500 yuan per person per month; for the care of infants under 3 years old, each infant is deducted 2,000 yuan per month. In addition, special attention should be paid to the fact that housing rent and housing loan interest cannot be enjoyed at the same time, and you can only choose one from the other.
Choose tax calculation method
During the filing process, there is another important choice, which is the tax calculation method for the annual one-time bonus. Click the "Salary" option on the declaration page to enter the salary details page. You will see the "Bonus Tax Calculation Method Selection". There are two tax calculation methods to choose from: one is "all integrated into comprehensive income for tax calculation", that is, the annual one-time bonus and other comprehensive income are combined to calculate the tax payable; the other is "separate tax calculation", that is, the annual one-time bonus is not integrated into the comprehensive income for the year, but the amount obtained by dividing the annual one-time bonus income by 12 months. The applicable tax rate and quick calculation deduction are determined according to the monthly converted comprehensive income tax rate table, and the tax is calculated separately. The results calculated by these two tax calculation methods may be different. It is recommended that you choose two methods to do a trial calculation and see which method is more cost-effective, then choose which one.
Submit declaration
After you have checked your income data, filled in the special additional deduction information, and selected the tax calculation method, and confirm that all the information is accurate, you can click the "Submit Declaration" button on the declaration page. After submitting the declaration, the system will calculate the amount of tax refund or tax payable based on the information you filled in.
Apply for tax refund
If the calculation results show that you can get a tax refund, congratulations! Next, click the “Apply for Tax Refund” button. At this time, the system will prompt you to choose a tax refund bank card. If you have bound a bank card in the APP before, just select the corresponding bank card; if it has not yet been bound, click "Add Bank Card Information" and follow the prompts to fill in the information of your Class I bank card account opened in China to ensure that the bank card status is normal and you can receive the tax refund smoothly. After selecting your bank card, click "OK" and the tax refund application will be submitted successfully.
Check tax refund progress
After submitting your tax refund application, are you eager to know when your tax refund will arrive? Don't worry, you can click "I want to query" on the homepage of the Personal Income Tax APP, then select "Declaration Query" to enter the declaration record details page and click "Tax Refund Record" to check the tax refund progress.
The tax refund progress will generally display statuses such as "Application submitted successfully", "Tax review in progress", "Tax review failed", "Treasury processing", "Treasury refund failed", "Tax refund successful". If it displays "Tax Review In Progress", it means that the tax authorities are reviewing your tax refund application, just wait patiently; if it displays "Tax Review Failed", don't panic, the system will prompt you with the reasons for the failure, and you can perform corresponding processing based on the reasons, such as supplementing information, correcting the declaration, etc., and then resubmit the tax refund application; if it displays "Treasury Processing", it means that the tax authorities have approved the review and the refund will be refunded. The tax application has been submitted to the treasury department, and the treasury is processing it according to regulations; if it displays "Treasury refund failed", it may be that your bank card information is incorrect or the bank card status is abnormal. At this time, you need to check the bank card information, rebind the correct bank card, and then submit the tax refund application; finally, when "Tax refund successful" is displayed, it means that your tax refund has been successfully received. Go and check your "windfall" Come on!
These details determine how much you can refund
Mastering some techniques to increase the amount of tax refund can allow us to get more surprises when we get a tax refund.
Special additional deductions should be completed
The special additional deduction items established by the state are real benefits, and everyone must make full use of them so that no one is left behind. Carefully check the various deduction conditions to see which ones you meet, and then fill in the report truthfully. For example, if you have infants and young children under 3 years old at home, don’t forget to declare special additional deductions for the care of infants and young children under 3 years old. Friends who are receiving continuing education to improve themselves, such as working graduate students, obtaining professional qualification certificates, etc., can declare special additional deductions for continuing education. If you have eligible medical expenses for major illnesses, you can also declare them to reduce your medical burden.
Properly allocate household deductions
If there are deductions between husband and wife or family members, then you need to carefully plan the allocation of deductions. Generally speaking, the party with higher income and higher applicable tax rate will give priority to items with higher deduction amounts, such as mortgage interest, children’s education, etc. This can minimize the overall tax burden on the family. Just like the couple mentioned earlier, the wife has a high income and a high tax rate. Therefore, if the additional deductions for children’s education and mortgage interest are allotted to the wife, the total family tax will be the least. Of course, the actual situation may be more complicated. You can try to calculate the tax amount under different distribution methods on the personal tax APP based on your family's specific income and deduction situation, and choose the most cost-effective plan.
Choose the best tax calculation method for year-end bonus
As we said before, there are two tax calculation methods to choose from for annual one-time bonuses. Different tax calculation methods may lead to large differences in the amount of tax refund or tax repayment. Generally speaking, for people with lower annual income and more special additional deductions, it may be more cost-effective to incorporate the year-end bonus into comprehensive income tax calculation; while for people with higher income and larger year-end bonus amounts, separate tax calculation may be a better choice. Everyone must calculate the tax payable in two ways when filing a declaration, and then choose the one with a larger tax refund or a smaller tax repayment after comparison. Just like Xiao Zhou and Xiao Wang, through comparing different tax calculation methods, they found the most suitable tax calculation method for them and saved a lot of tax.
Pay attention to new deduction items
The state sometimes introduces some new preferential tax policies and increases deduction items based on economic and social development. For example, starting from 2024, personal pensions can be deducted before tax according to the upper limit of 12,000 yuan in the year. If you made a personal pension contribution in 2024, don't forget to deduct it when you file. The specific operation is also very simple. Enter the [Personal Pension Deduction Management] of the personal tax APP and select "2024" to automatically synchronize the payment data. In addition, tax-preferred health insurance can also be deducted, with a maximum deduction of 2,400 yuan per year. However, you need to provide the tax-preferred identification code on the policy and manually enter the policy information in [Other Deduction Items]. Everyone should pay attention to the state’s tax policy trends at all times and learn about new deductions in a timely manner, so as not to miss out on these tax reduction benefits.
Avoid these pitfalls on the road to tax refund
In the process of applying for a tax refund, there are some precautions that must not be ignored, otherwise it may cause us unnecessary trouble.
Ensure information is true and accurate
Throughout the entire tax refund declaration process, you must ensure that all the information you provide is true, accurate, and complete. This is like building a house. Information is the foundation. If the foundation is unstable, the house will easily collapse. If you falsely report your income or inflate deductions in order to get more tax refunds, once discovered by the tax authorities, the consequences will be serious. Not only will your tax refund application be directly rejected, but you will also face fines. If the circumstances are particularly serious, you may even be held criminally responsible. Therefore, we must be honest and trustworthy and report truthfully.
Pay back taxes on time
If after calculation, you find that you need to pay taxes, don't take chances and think you can avoid it. The back payment must be completed within the specified time, that is, before June 30. If you fail to pay after this time, you will be charged a late payment fee at a rate of 0.5% per day, and it will also affect your personal tax credit record. This credit record is like your "economic ID card". If it is stained, future loans, credit cards, etc. will be affected, just like setting up obstacles on your credit road. Therefore, the taxes that should be paid should be paid on time.
Keep materials for future reference
Whether you are declaring a tax refund or paying taxes, the information related to the annual settlement, such as income certificates, deduction vouchers, donation notes, etc., must be properly retained. The retention period is 5 years from the end of the annual accounting period. It's like you save important documents just in case you need them. If the tax authorities conduct verification later and you cannot produce this information, it will be difficult to explain. For example, if you declare a special additional deduction for serious illness medical treatment, but are unable to provide the original (or copy) of bills related to medical service charges and medical insurance reimbursement, then this deduction may not be recognized. Therefore, developing a good habit of retaining information can make you feel more at ease when it comes to tax matters.
Choose your reporting method carefully
At present, there are three main ways to handle annual financial statements: do it yourself, do it by your employer, or hire someone to do it. If you choose to do it yourself, you must have a certain understanding of the declaration process and tax policies, so as to ensure a smooth declaration; if you choose an employer to do it, you must have it before April 30 Make a written confirmation with the unit a few days ago to clarify the responsibilities and obligations of both parties. At the same time, you must truthfully inform the unit of your comprehensive income, deduction items and other information other than the unit; if you ask someone to do it, that is, entrust a tax-related professional service agency or other unit or individual to handle it, you must sign a power of attorney to clarify the entrusted matters, authority and deadline. Don't just hand over your tax matters to others in a daze.
