China’s Taxation Administration: Legal Liabilities
China’s Taxation Administration: Legal Liabilities
(III) Legal liabilities of tax officials for violating tax law
Tax officials will be held legally liable for the following violations of tax law: ① Instigating or assisting taxpayers or withholding agents in tax evasion or fraud, or obstructing the recovery of tax debts; ② Accepting or soliciting property from taxpayers or withholding agents; ③ Negligence of duty, failure to collect or undercollecting taxes, resulting in significant losses to the national tax revenue; ④ Embezzling products, commodities, or other property that have been seized or sealed up; ⑤ Deciding to collect, suspend collecting, reduce, exempt, or rebate tax in violation of the law or without authorization; or ⑥ Abusing power to intentionally create difficulties for taxpayers or withholding agents. In case of the acts listed in Items 1 to 4, criminal liability shall be incurred in accordance with the law if their acts constitute a crime, and administrative penalties shall be imposed if they do not constitute a crime. In case of the act listed in Item 5, administrative penalties shall be imposed on the person directly liable, in addition to revoking their decision. In case of the act listed in Item 6, administrative penalties shall be imposed on the actor.
Robert Zhang 
Steve Li 