Pharma companies face tax back payments under Golden Tax Phase IV: BeiGene pays 446 million yuan
On June 26 after market close, BeiGene (688235.SH) announced that one of its domestic wholly-owned subsidiaries recently received a notice from the local tax authority. The company agreed to make certain adjustments to previously filed tax returns and has confirmed the tax matters with the authority. It will pay back taxes and late fees totaling approximately 446 million yuan, about 30% of the company's 2025 net profit.
According to BeiGene's prior 2025 annual report, the company achieved revenue of 38.225 billion yuan, up 40.46% year-on-year; net profit attributable to parent was 1.461 billion yuan, turning from a loss of 4.978 billion yuan; recurring net profit was 1.420 billion yuan, turning from a loss of 5.379 billion yuan.
BeiGene said it received a notice from the local tax authority regarding certain tax matters, adjusting some previously filed tax returns. The company communicated with the tax authority on technical tax interpretations and differences between tax and accounting treatments, and will complete payment as required. The matter does not involve administrative penalties. The company believes it is not a prior accounting error and does not require retrospective adjustment to prior financial data.
The company expects the matter to be recorded in 2026 current profit/loss; the specific impact on net profit will be subject to audited financial statements. It is not expected to materially affect the company's financial condition, going concern, or normal operations.
Multiple pharma companies disclosed large tax back payments this year: Aier Eye Hospital, China Medicine, etc.
Besides BeiGene, several other pharma companies have disclosed tax back payment matters this year.
On May 20, Aier Eye Hospital (300015.SZ) announced that after conducting a self-inspection on tax matters in accordance with laws and regulations, it confirmed the need to pay back taxes of 348 million yuan plus late fees of 176 million yuan, totaling 524 million yuan.
On January 1, China Medicine (600056.SH) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiaries Sanyang Pharma and Kangli Pharma received tax notices requiring combined back taxes and late fees of about 65.2178 million yuan. Among them, Sanyang Pharma paid back taxes of 21.4862 million yuan and late fees 10.7429 million yuan; Kangli Pharma paid back taxes of 21.2826 million yuan and late fees 11.7061 million yuan.
Additionally, Jiasitang (002462.SZ), Lanfan Medical (002382.SZ), and Zhongyao Holdings (000950.SZ) also issued tax back payment notices.
Golden Tax Phase IV 'data-based tax administration' and post-annual report self-inspection: Lawyer explains rationale
According to Wind data incomplete statistics, as of June 25, at least 80 listed companies have disclosed tax back payments or tax adjustments this year, approaching the total of 89 for the whole of 2025; cumulative back taxes, late fees, and penalties exceed 6 billion yuan.
Gui Xin, senior partner at Tahota (Shanghai) Law Firm and initiator of Tianmu Venture Ecology, said the recent tax back payments by BeiGene, Aier Eye Hospital, and other pharma companies after annual reports are essentially a concentrated exposure of historical compliance issues in the pharma industry—such as high R&D investment, multi-business models, tax incentive applicability (e.g., high-tech qualification, R&D super deduction), tax-accounting differences, and related-party transactions—under the tight supervision of Golden Tax Phase IV.
The lawyer said that tax back payments mostly occur after annual reports, reflecting proactive tax self-inspection by companies after completing annual settlement and audit, as a compliance choice to avoid audit penalties; it also reflects the difference between audit (focusing on financial accuracy) and tax (focusing on tax law application). Tax back payments usually stem from policy scope adjustments, not financial fraud, and represent a normal self-correction 'mine-clearing' in capital market tax compliance.
The lawyer further noted that the frequent large tax back payments this year, far exceeding previous years, stem from Golden Tax Phase IV's full implementation enabling cross-departmental data penetration, coupled with strict tax incentive supervision and the implementation of the Value-Added Tax Law. This forced companies to conduct a comprehensive settlement of historical tax risks from the past five or even ten years. Listed companies, to avoid high penalties and information disclosure risks, proactively 'clear mines' after annual audit and tax settlement. Multiple factors combined to cause a concentrated exposure of legacy issues in 2026, forming a 'tax back payment wave'.
Is this tax back payment one-off or a regular impact?
Regarding whether the impact is limited to 2026, the lawyer said it is not a single-year issue. The wave of large tax back payments in 2026 mainly reflects a one-off concentrated settlement of multiple years (usually 3-5 years) of historical legacy issues. As proactive self-inspection advances, such large-scale retroactive tax payments may gradually decrease in the next 1-2 years; but regular tax adjustments will persist long-term.
The lawyer pointed out that Golden Tax Phase IV's 'data-based tax administration' is permanent infrastructure. Strict supervision of tax incentives (high-tech annual review, real-time verification of R&D super deduction) will become the norm. Companies' annual tax settlement may still result in tax back payments due to policy scope refinement or related-party transaction pricing adjustments, but amounts will return to normal levels, without concentrated 'megabuck arrears' cleanups. Tax compliance will shift from occasional 'mine-clearing events' to a permanent rigid operating cost for companies.
