About the China Salary Calculator
This China salary calculator estimates take-home pay (税后工资) from a monthly pre-tax salary for a resident employee in mainland China. It deducts the employee share of the “five insurances and one fund” (五险一金) — pension 8%, medical 2% and unemployment 0.5%, plus your housing provident fund rate — and then works out individual income tax (IIT) on comprehensive income.
It is built for employees in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other cities comparing offers, HR staff sanity-checking payroll, and foreigners who have become tax residents. It also shows how monthly withholding rises through the year under the cumulative withholding method (累计预扣法), even though the annual tax is the same.
Tax follows the Individual Income Tax Law: a ¥60,000 annual basic deduction (¥5,000 a month), deduction of social insurance and housing fund contributions, special additional deductions (child education and infant care at ¥2,000 per child per month and elderly support up to ¥3,000 since 2023), and the 3%–45% comprehensive income table. Contribution bases are capped and floored by each city and revised every year, so enter your actual contribution base if it differs from your salary. Annual bonuses taxed separately, employer contributions and city-specific medical add-ons are not modelled.
With the default inputs, the average take-home pay per month is ¥15,560.00. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the china salary calculator
- 1Enter your monthly pre-tax salary.
- 2Enter your social insurance base if it differs from your salary (e.g. capped by your city).
- 3Set your housing provident fund rate from your payslip.
- 4Add special additional deductions you have registered in the IIT app.
- 5Read your average take-home pay and how withholding changes through the year.
Formula and method
Social insurance is 10.5% of the contribution base (8% pension, 2% medical, 0.5% unemployment) and the housing fund is your chosen rate of the same base. Annual taxable income is annual salary minus the ¥60,000 basic deduction, those contributions and special additional deductions. Tax uses the comprehensive income table: 3% up to ¥36,000, 10% to ¥144,000, 20% to ¥300,000, 25% to ¥420,000, 30% to ¥660,000, 35% to ¥960,000 and 45% above, applied via quick deductions.
Employers withhold monthly with the cumulative method: each month they apply the same table to year-to-date taxable income and withhold the difference from tax already paid. That makes January’s withholding the smallest and December’s the largest, while the year’s total equals the annual tax.
- 5,000
- Monthly basic deduction (¥60,000 a year)
- Social
- Employee pension, medical and unemployment insurance
- Special deductions
- Child, infant, elderly, housing and education deductions
- Quick deduction
- 速算扣除数 — makes the bracket formula equal to progressive taxation
Worked examples
¥20,000 a month, 7% housing fund, no special deductions
Contributions take ¥3,500 a month. Annual taxable income is ¥138,000 (10% bracket), so IIT is ¥11,280 — withheld as ¥345 in January rising to ¥1,150 by December. Average take-home pay is ¥15,560.
¥15,000, one child, only child supporting parents
Special deductions of ¥5,000 a month (¥2,000 child + ¥3,000 elderly support) leave only ¥28,500 of taxable income, taxed at 3% = ¥855 a year. Take-home pay averages about ¥12,304 a month.
¥60,000 salary, base capped at ¥36,000, 12% housing fund
With the contribution base capped at ¥36,000, contributions are ¥3,780 social insurance and ¥4,320 housing fund a month. Taxable income of ¥562,800 falls in the 30% bracket: ¥562,800 × 30% − ¥52,920 = ¥115,920 a year, leaving ¥42,240 a month on average.
Frequently asked questions
How is individual income tax calculated on a salary in China?+
Residents pay tax on annual comprehensive income minus a ¥60,000 basic deduction, social insurance and housing fund contributions and special additional deductions, at progressive rates from 3% to 45%. Employers withhold it monthly using the cumulative method and you settle any difference in the annual reconciliation (汇算清缴).
Why does my income tax increase towards the end of the year?+
Under cumulative withholding the employer applies the annual rate table to your year-to-date income. As the running total crosses ¥36,000, ¥144,000 and so on, each month’s withholding is taxed at a higher marginal rate, so December payslips are usually the smallest.
What are the special additional deductions?+
Since 2023 you can deduct ¥2,000 per child per month for children’s education and for infant care under three, up to ¥3,000 a month for supporting parents aged 60+, plus housing loan interest or rent and continuing education. They are claimed through the Individual Income Tax app.
What is the contribution base for social insurance?+
It is usually your previous year’s average monthly salary, limited to between roughly 60% and 300% of the local average wage. Each city publishes new limits annually, so high earners often pay contributions on a capped base rather than their full salary.
Is the housing provident fund lost money?+
No. Contributions go into your personal housing fund account together with an equal employer contribution, and can be used for buying or renting a home or withdrawn in situations such as retirement, so they are better seen as forced savings.
Tax results are estimates based on published rules and simplified assumptions. They are not tax advice — check official guidance or a tax professional for your situation.