The tax collection period in January 2026 has arrived. When filing corporate income tax for the fourth quarter of 2025, many financial personnel are stumped by the problem of filling in wages and salaries – "Can the unpaid wages be filled in?" "Do social security and welfare fees be included in the actual wages?" "What should I do if the personal tax declaration data does not match?"
Don't panic! Today, in response to these pain points, we have compiled 10 high-frequency questions and answers on wages and salaries in the fourth quarter declaration, covering core issues such as reporting standards, data sources, pre-tax deductions, and special circumstances. They are all practical information. It is recommended to save them for later use~
Q1: What is the difference between "employee benefits included in costs and expenses" and "actually paid employee benefits" in the declaration form? What to fill in?
A: These are the two columns that are most easily confused. There are two core differences:
1. Employee compensation that has been included in costs and expenses: Fill in based on the cumulative number from January to December 2025, including wages and salaries, social security (unit part), provident fund (unit part), welfare fees, labor union funds, etc.
2. Actual employee compensation paid: only fill in the total wages and salaries actually paid from January to December 2025 (including basic salary, bonuses, allowances, subsidies), excluding social security, welfare fees and other additional items.
Q2: Fill in these two columns with "amount for this quarter" or "accumulated amount for this year"?
A: You must fill in the cumulative amount for this year! The declaration here for the fourth quarter of 2025 needs to be filled in based on the cumulative data from January to December 2025, not just the fourth quarter data, otherwise the system data comparison will be abnormal.
Q3: The salary accrued in 2025 was not paid at the end of the year. Can I fill it in when reporting?
A: It can be filled in, but it must be divided into columns: to calculate unpaid wages, you need to fill in "employee wages that have been included in costs and expenses", but you cannot fill in "employee wages actually paid".
Tip: The wages accrued in 2025 must be paid before May 31, 2026 (the final settlement date) at the latest before tax can be deducted in 2025; if they are not paid by the due date, the taxable income must be fully adjusted through the "Employee Salary Expenditure and Tax Adjustment Detailed Schedule" during the final settlement.
Q4: How to fill in the 2024 accrued wages to be paid in 2025?
A: Fill in “actual employee compensation paid”.
Q5: Does the "actually paid employee compensation" include the personal part of personal income tax and social security?
A: Included! What is filled in here is the total salary before tax. Personal tax and social security are part of the salary. They are only withheld and paid by the company and need to be included in the actual salary.
Q6: What kind of wages and salaries can be fully deducted before tax?
A: The core is to meet the requirements of "reasonable wages and salaries", focusing on three key points: ① There is a formal salary system; ② The salary level is in line with local industry standards; ③ Individual taxes have been withheld in accordance with the law. If you meet these three points at the same time, you can basically deduct the full amount.
Q7: Can social security, welfare fees, and labor union funds be included in total wages and salaries, and can they be used to calculate the deduction limit?
A: No! Total wages and salaries only refer to the total wages and salaries actually paid, excluding social security, provident fund, welfare fees, labor union funds, etc. These items have separate deduction standards: welfare fees shall not exceed 14% of total wages and salaries, labor union funds shall not exceed 2%, and employee education funds shall not exceed 8% (according to Finance and Taxation [2018] No. 51, the overexpenditure can be carried forward for deduction in subsequent years).
Q8: How should I fill in the wages that have not been calculated through the "Employee Compensation Payable" account?
A: Regardless of whether it is calculated through this account, as long as the employee compensation or wages actually paid are included in costs and expenses in 2025, they must be filled in according to the corresponding caliber. It is recommended that the subsequent transitional accounting of "employee compensation payable" be unified to avoid missing statistics; if it has been directly included in the cost and expense, it needs to be counted separately to ensure the completeness of the declaration data.
Q9: Does the intern’s salary need to be filled in the salary column?
A: For college students doing internships or temporary workers providing similar employee services, regardless of whether the personal income tax is reported as "salary" or "labor remuneration", the "employee salary payable" will be included in the accounting. It is recommended to fill it in and keep the labor agreement/internship agreement for future reference.
Q10: The declaration data does not match the income data in the personal tax system, what should I do?
A: First check the 3 common causes, and then deal with them according to the steps:
1. Pay wages across years (for example, pay 24 years of wages in 25 years);
2. The salary of interns/temporary workers is included in employee salary, but personal income tax is reported as labor remuneration;
3. Omission/overcalculation of bonuses and subsidies when reporting.
Processing steps:
1. Compile a detailed list of differences and mark the reasons;
2. Keep salary sheets, payment vouchers, personal tax returns and other information;
3. If there is a reasonable difference, no additional operations are required when reporting, just prepare the information for verification.
[Case] Last year, a small and micro enterprise in Shenzhen was required by the tax to provide additional explanations because it failed to indicate the reasons for differences. Please be prepared in advance!
Practical operation of salary-related entries (with declaration correspondence)
After solving the problem of filling in the report, add the entries for practice! Many financial accounts make declaration errors due to irregular entries. The following is the correspondence between standard entries and declarations in high-frequency scenarios, so that novices can make zero mistakes:
Scenario 1: Calculate monthly salary in December 2025 (including unit social security and provident fund)
Assume that the monthly salary of management personnel is 100,000 yuan, and the salary of production personnel is 200,000 yuan. The unit bears social security of 30,000 yuan and provident fund of 20,000 yuan (personal social security of 12,000 yuan and provident fund of 10,000 yuan):
Borrow: Management expenses – salary 100,000
Production cost—salary 200,000
Management expenses—social security (unit) 30,000
Management expenses—provident fund (unit) 20,000
Loan: Employee compensation payable – wages and salaries 300,000
Employee compensation payable—social security (unit) 30,000
Employee benefits payable—provident fund (unit) 20,000
Declaration correspondence: The credit of "employee benefits payable" in the entry totals 350,000 yuan (30+3+2), which is directly included in the declaration form "employee benefits included in costs and expenses".
Scenario 2: Pay the monthly salary in December 2025 (withholding personal social security, provident fund and personal tax)
Assuming that the personal tax withheld is 18,000 yuan, the actual amount distributed = 300,000-12,000-10,000-18,000 = 260,000 yuan:
Borrow: Employee compensation payable – wages and salaries 300,000
Loan: bank deposit 260,000
Other payables—social security (individual) 12,000
Other payables—provident fund (individual) 10,000
Taxes payable—Personal income tax payable 18,000
Declaration correspondence: The debit of "Employee compensation payable – wages and salaries" in the entry is 300,000 yuan (total amount before tax), which is included in the "actually paid employee compensation" in the declaration form.
Scenario 3: The performance salary of RMB 50,000 accrued in December 2025 will be paid in January 2026 (before the 25-year settlement).
Borrow: Employee compensation payable – wages and salaries 50,000
Loan: bank deposit 50,000
Declaration correspondence: 50,000 yuan distributed in January 2026. Since the fourth quarter declaration form (declaration period is January 2026) is filled with data from January to December 2025, and the issuance has exceeded the year of 2025, there is no need to add it to the fourth quarter declaration form; no additional explanation is required, and the issuance voucher is retained for future reference.
Scenario 4: Pay part of social security and provident fund for the unit and individual
Borrow: Employee compensation payable—social security (unit) 30,000
Employee benefits payable—provident fund (unit) 20,000
Other payables—social security (individual) 12,000
Other payables—provident fund (individual) 10,000
Loan: bank deposit 72,000
Declaration correspondence: Part of the unit's social security and provident funds have been included in "employee compensation included in costs and expenses" through scenario 1. This is only a payment entry, and no repeated reporting is required.
The core of filling in salary and remuneration is to "clear the caliber, identify the source, and retain the voucher." If you master these key points, you will avoid detours when filing for the fourth quarter~ If you have any other questions, please leave a message in the comment area! #January 2026 Corporate Income Tax Quarterly Return, How to Fill in Employee Remuneration##Corporate Income Tax Law##
