Golden Tax Phase IV drives pharmaceutical back-tax wave: BeiGene subsidiary back-tax of RMB 446M
Image source: Visual China
On June 26 after market close, BeiGene (688235.SH) announced that a domestic wholly-owned subsidiary recently received a notice from the local competent tax authority. The company agreed to make certain adjustments to previously filed tax returns and paid approximately RMB 446M in back taxes and penalties as required, which is about 30% of its 2025 net profit.
According to BeiGene's 2025 annual report, the company achieved revenue of RMB 38.23B in 2025, up 40.46% YoY; net profit attributable to parent was RMB 1.46B, turning from a loss of RMB 4.98B; non-recurring net profit was RMB 1.42B, turning from a loss of RMB 5.38B.
BeiGene stated that upon receiving the notice from the local competent tax authority, it made certain adjustments to previous tax returns. For technical determinations and differences in accounting/tax treatment, the company has fully communicated with the authority and will complete payment. This matter does not involve administrative penalties. Based on accounting standards, the company judges that this is not a prior period accounting error and does not require retrospective adjustment of prior financial data.
The company expects to record it in current 2026 profit/loss; the specific impact on net profit will be subject to audited financial statements. It said the matter is not expected to have a material adverse impact on its financial condition, going concern, or normal operations.
Multiple pharmaceutical companies report large back taxes this year
Besides BeiGene, several pharmaceutical companies have also disclosed back taxes or tax adjustments this year. On May 20, Aier Eye Hospital (300015.SZ) announced that after a tax self-inspection, it confirmed back taxes of RMB 348M and penalties of RMB 176M, totaling RMB 524M.
On January 1, China Pharma (600056.SH) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiaries Sanyo Pharmaceuticals and Kangli Pharmaceuticals received tax notices requiring total back taxes and penalties of about RMB 65.22M, including Sanyo back taxes of RMB 21.49M and penalties of RMB 10.74M; Kangli back taxes of RMB 21.28M and penalties of RMB 11.71M.
Other companies like Jiasitang (002462.SZ), Blue Sail Medical (002382.SZ), and Chongqing Pharmaceutical (000950.SZ) also issued back-tax announcements.
Lawyer: Golden Tax Phase IV intensified supervision leads to centralized settlement of historical risks
According to incomplete Wind data, as of June 25, at least 80 listed companies had disclosed back-tax or tax adjustment announcements this year, approaching the 2025 full-year total of 89; cumulative back taxes, penalties, and fines exceeded RMB 6B.
Gui Xin, senior partner at Tahota (Shanghai) Law Firm, told Blue Whale News that back taxes at pharmaceutical companies like BeiGene and Aier after annual reports are essentially a concentration of historical compliance issues under Golden Tax Phase IV's enhanced supervision. These include tax preferences (high-tech qualification, R&D super deduction), book-tax differences, and related transactions. Back taxes often occur after annual reports as companies conduct tax self-inspections after final settlement and auditing to avoid inspection penalties and disclosure risks; it also reflects natural differences between auditing and tax treatment.
The lawyer further believes that the frequent large back taxes in pharmaceuticals and other industries this year, far exceeding past amounts, are due to the full implementation of Golden Tax Phase IV enabling multi-department data penetration, combined with stricter tax preference supervision and the implementation of the VAT Law, forcing companies to settle historical tax issues over the past five to ten years. Listed companies' proactive 'mine clearing' and announcements after annual audit and final settlement represent a multiple resonance of technology pressure, policy tightening, and proactive compliance, causing previously hidden stock issues to erupt in 2026, forming a 'back-tax wave'.
Is this back-tax wave limited to this year or will it become normal?
Regarding whether the back-tax wave is limited to 2026 or will become normal, the lawyer believes it is not limited to this year. Two layers: (1) the concentrated large back taxes in 2026 are a one-time settlement of historical stock issues (usually reviewing 3-5 years); as proactive self-inspection progresses, such huge retroactive back taxes may decrease over the next 1-2 years. (2) Regular tax adjustments will persist long-term. Golden Tax Phase IV's 'data-driven governance' is a permanent infrastructure; stricter supervision of tax preferences (high-tech annual review, R&D super deduction real-time review) becomes normal. In the future, annual final settlement may still result in back taxes due to policy refinement and related transaction pricing adjustments, but amounts will return to normal levels, without the concentrated 'big old bills' settlement. Tax compliance will solidify from occasional 'mine clearing' into a routine operating cost for enterprises.
