Acts that violate tax laws and administrative regulations and should be given administrative punishment shall not be given administrative punishment if they have not been discovered within 5 years. The time limit for investigation shall be counted from the date of the illegal act. If the illegal act has a continuous or continuous state, it shall be counted from the date of ending. It depends on the specific situation. If a taxpayer or withholding agent fails to pay or underpays the tax due to miscalculation and other reasons, the tax authorities may recover the tax and overdue fine within three years; Under special circumstances, the recruitment period can be extended to five years. For tax evasion, tax refusal or tax fraud, the tax authorities shall recover the unpaid or underpaid taxes, late payment fees or tax fraud, and shall not be limited by the time limit specified in the preceding paragraph. If it is tax evasion for more than 5 years, the treatment method is: if it exceeds the limitation of prosecution, it will not be prosecuted at this time. If a taxpayer's withholding agent is characterized as tax evasion by the tax authorities, the tax authorities shall first recover the unpaid or underpaid taxes and late fees, correct the illegal tax evasion, and impose a fine of not less than 50% but not more than five times the unpaid or underpaid taxes.

Legal analysis

Article 52 of the Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) on the Administration of Tax Collection, if the taxpayer or withholding agent fails to pay or underpays the tax due to the responsibility of the tax authorities, the tax authorities may require the taxpayer or withholding agent to pay back the tax within three years, but shall not impose a late fee. If a taxpayer or withholding agent fails to pay or underpays the tax due to miscalculation and other reasons, the tax authorities may recover the tax and overdue fine within three years; Under special circumstances, the recruitment period can be extended to five years. For tax evasion, tax refusal or tax fraud, the tax authorities shall recover the unpaid or underpaid taxes, late payment fees or tax fraud, and shall not be limited by the time limit specified in the preceding paragraph.