How it works
China taxes salary as comprehensive income (综合所得) on a yearly basis: gross pay minus a CNY 60,000 basic deduction (CNY 5,000 a month), minus the employee’s social insurance and housing fund (专项扣除), minus special additional deductions (专项附加扣除), then the result is taxed in seven brackets: 3% up to CNY 36,000, 10% up to 144,000, 20% up to 300,000, 25% up to 420,000, 30% up to 660,000, 35% up to 960,000 and 45% above. Employers withhold tax cumulatively during the year, so the monthly deduction is small early on and levels out later, but the annual total is the same as here.
Five insurances and one fund
The employee pays 8% pension, 2% medical (Beijing adds CNY 3 a month), unemployment insurance of 0.2% (Beijing, Guangzhou), 0.3% (Shenzhen), 0.4% (Chengdu) or 0.5% (Shanghai and the national default), and a housing fund of 5%–12% chosen by the employer (Shanghai: 5%–7%). Work-injury and maternity insurance are paid by the employer. Contributions are calculated on your salary but only between a city floor and ceiling that change every July. Beijing 2026: CNY 7,270–36,348; Shanghai: 7,546–37,731; Guangzhou and Shenzhen (latest published, July 2025): about 27,549 ceiling; Chengdu/Sichuan 2026: 4,699–23,493.
Special additional deductions
This calculator includes the three most common: children (CNY 2,000 per child per month for education or infant care under 3, split between parents however you choose), supporting parents (up to CNY 3,000 a month for an only child, up to 1,500 if shared with siblings) and first-home loan interest (CNY 1,000 a month). Continuing education, serious illness and rent deductions are not included.
Worked example
Monthly salary CNY 20,000 in Beijing, housing fund 7%, no special deductions
- Pension 19,200 + medical 4,836 + unemployment 480 + housing fund 16,800 = CNY 41,316 per year
- Taxable income = 240,000 − 60,000 − 41,316 = CNY 138,684
- Tax = 36,000 × 3% + 102,684 × 10% = CNY 11,348.40
- Net = CNY 187,335.60 per year, about CNY 15,611 per month
What this calculator leaves out
The annual one-time bonus, equity income, labour-remuneration and royalty income, supplementary pension and enterprise annuity, commercial health insurance and individual pension deductions, employer-side contributions, and cities beyond those listed. Housing-fund ceilings and the Guangzhou/Shenzhen/Chengdu fund limits are approximated with the social-insurance ceiling; real payslips can differ where the employer sets a different base or rate.