Not long ago, the tax authorities exposed several typical tax-related illegal cases involving tax intermediaries, including the implementation of illegal planning by tax intermediaries to help the enterprises they represent evade taxes, the forgery of official documents to handle tax clearance services, and the issuance of fictitious value-added tax invoices, all of which have attracted widespread social attention. Recently, the State Administration of Taxation issued the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Tax-related Professional Services," clarifying the scope of management, management and services, supervision and inspection, and handling and penalties, and promulgating it in the form of departmental regulations. This means that the management of tax intermediaries will be more effective.

Under the new regulations, strengthening the legal awareness of tax intermediaries and leveraging their positive and leading role in promoting corporate compliance development has become a must-answer question in response to the development of the times.

During the 34th National Tax Publicity Month, we interviewed the heads of three 5A-level tax firms on the topic of "Compliant Tax Payment and Sustainable Development," focusing on the industry's legal principles and discussing the responsibilities of tax intermediaries in serving the modernization of China and the sustainable development of the industry.

宋朝学

全国政协委员、信永中和税务师事务所总裁  

邓艳芳

中联税务师事务所董事长

何源泉

中瑞税务师事务所董事长

Reporter: In your understanding, tax intermediaries are both the "gatekeepers" of corporate compliance, the "lubricant" of tax rule of law, and the "booster" of social fairness. How do you view the accurate positioning of tax intermediaries, and how can we avoid the "overstepping operations" that occasionally occur in the industry?

Song Chaoxue: The rule of law is the cornerstone of modern national governance. As a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a worker in tax service institutions, I have deeply felt the significant achievements of China's tax rule of law in recent years in maintaining fair competition and guiding business entities to comply with regulations. I also recognize its value in the current era. I believe that tax intermediaries should act as a "bridge between tax authorities and enterprises," holding the hands of taxpaying enterprises on one side and connecting with tax authorities on the other. They should use their professional capabilities to help enterprises prevent risks, optimize management, and pay taxes honestly. However, some individual institutions "overstep," seemingly helping enterprises but actually harming taxpayers. They cannot escape legal punishment and also fall into a crisis of trust.

He Yuanquan: President Xi Jinping's speech at the private entrepreneurs' symposium is inspiring. Compliance of private enterprises is an essential part of high-quality corporate development. As a part of private enterprises, I understand that tax firms should: First, strictly adhere to the "baseline" of legal boundaries in their own compliance to set an example for the stable and long-term development of the industry; Second, act as a "good helper" for enterprises' compliant operations, make contributions in tax compliance, and play a positive guiding role for the enterprises they serve.

Deng Yanfang: I believe "staying within boundaries" is crucial. The core competitiveness of tax intermediaries is not the skill of "exploiting loopholes" but the determination to "follow rules" and the ability to "prevent risks." In serving enterprises, we first put responsibility first, telling enterprises to cherish their brands as they would their own feathers. We must think for enterprises, reasonably reduce their tax burdens, and at the same time, we must maintain the dignity of national tax laws and adhere to the industry's legal principles of compliance, objectivity, and fairness.

Reporter: The industry value of tax intermediaries lies not only in the precision of professional services but also in the positive driving effect of "spreading from point to surface." Faced with the contemporary topic of "high-quality comprehensive service for corporate compliance and development," what "new challenges" does the industry currently face?

Song Chaoxue: The newly introduced "Interim Measures for the Administration of Tax-related Professional Services" proposes to establish and improve a "credit + risk" management mechanism based on real-name management. The China Institute of Certified Tax Agents is also strengthening industry management. Currently, whether it is international tax rules or domestic tax system reforms, there are huge changes. The new tax collection and management model of "taxation through data" brings new challenges to corporate compliance operations. In professional services, customer demands are also increasing. In addition, with the rapid development of the economy, new technologies, new business forms, and new business models bring many "new" challenges to tax compliance management.

Deng Yanfang: The enterprises we serve are all diversified in their operations. We provide comprehensive services for multiple taxes and the entire chain to help enterprises build a first-class tax system. The professional requirements for tax consultants are very high. Secondly, enterprises focus on the exploration of tax value. For example, large enterprises often conduct tax arguments before acquisition, investment, and business operations, placing taxes as a key element in the business chain. Small and medium-sized enterprises not only need compliant tax services but also seek services between taxation and financing. We have also made new explorations in these areas, which pose high requirements for the high-quality development of the tax service industry.

He Yuanquan: With the rapid development of new technologies, new industries, new business forms, and new models, comprehensive services face complex and urgent challenges. The digital, intelligent, and scenario-based upgrade and improvement of tax and fee services require enterprises to place tax compliance in a more important position. The cross-border and cross-regional operations of enterprises pose high "new" requirements for the business capabilities of professional service institutions. We improve our team's tax compliance awareness through regular training and other means, and embed tax risk control nodes into all business links to prevent tax risks throughout the process, achieving the organic unity of enterprise development and tax compliance.

Reporter: As a 5A-level tax firm, you must have accumulated a lot of positive and negative experiences in promoting the long-term compliance development of enterprises. Please talk about the "solutions" to promote the long-term compliance development of enterprises.

He Yuanquan: A specialized, refined, and innovative enterprise in Haidian District, Beijing, had seven senior executives who were all technical developers. They had a weak awareness of tax laws and lacked compliance consciousness. Several senior executives of the company were held accountable by the law for issuing and selling fictitious value-added tax special invoices. The procuratorate, tax authorities, Federation of Industry and Commerce, and our tax firm jointly helped the enterprise carry out compliance rectification, helped the enterprise establish a "one-stop" tax compliance system, and promoted the compliance concept and awareness to the enterprise. Therefore, integrating "compliant operations" into all industries is the solid foundation for promoting high-quality development.

Deng Yanfang: In serving enterprises, we have built a full-process "butler-style" service system and established a full life cycle service chain of "strategic consulting - customized solutions - implementation and protection." Through exclusive service teams, rapid response mechanisms, and proactive demand prediction, we deeply bind customer value.

Song Chaoxue: Intermediary institutions, as the "gatekeepers" of the capital market, must be responsible for their positions. First, improve their internal control systems, strictly implement relevant regulations, and ensure independence. Second, empower the accounting industry with digital intelligence and build a "system - technology - ecology" collaborative innovation system. For example, accelerate the formulation of data element confirmation rules, actively develop lightweight audit large models, and promote cross-border regulatory technology alliances, etc. Our Xinyong Zhonghe has established an AI research and expansion team, deployed, and applied artificial intelligence tools such as DeepSeek to improve work efficiency and control risks.

Reporter: How can tax intermediaries promote the optimization of the tax business environment and the construction of legal fairness through strengthening compliance demonstrations?

Song Chaoxue: The key to compliance is still self-discipline. Self-discipline requires us to strictly follow rules, not to overstep in our thoughts and actions, fully recognize that integrity and compliance with tax laws are the foundation of competition, and also a wise choice for enterprises to build brands and achieve long-term development. Integrate tax considerations into the overall corporate decision-making process. Of course, external discipline is also indispensable. The newly introduced "Management Measures" connect professional service information collection, credit evaluation management, information announcement and push, basic criteria, and professional ethics guidelines and other related tax regulatory documents, forming a relatively complete system of tax professional service management regulations. I suggest that from the top-level design architecture, further standardize the formulation of preferential policies, break down internal information barriers within enterprises, dynamically monitor and regulate taxes, and at the same time, strengthen the construction of incentive mechanisms for trustworthiness and punishment systems for dishonesty.

Deng Yanfang: The China Institute of Certified Tax Agents has issued some new regulations to strengthen the integrated management of tax firms, and to build a systematic structure from three dimensions: the cultivation of internal capabilities of institutions, the construction of credit supervision systems, and the innovation of smart tax services. The two most core issues are: First, I need a professional team to make industry-specific plans that meet high-quality development; Second, network platform construction, to implement these plans through digital supervision. Make ourselves the leaders and mutual beneficiaries of legal compliance, and lead enterprises to improve their tax law compliance.

He Yuanquan: In our practice, we actively publicize tax policies, assist tax authorities in conveying precise and effective policy interpretations to the public, and promote the implementation of policies. At the same time, we leverage our professional advantages in tax services to promote the scientific and operability of policies. For example, our China-Switzerland Tax Group has in-depth research on international tax rules and provides localized tax services through our international network for Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises distributed in 123 countries around the world, ensuring that Chinese enterprises operate legally and comply with regulations globally and helping them cope with global tax challenges. By providing high-level services, strengthening social supervision, improving corporate self-discipline mechanisms, and perfecting the institutional supervision system, we build a tax rule of law ecosystem of "having laws to follow, enterprises abiding by laws, and social co-governance."

Tax intermediaries, based on professional services, create a virtuous cycle of "service, empowerment, and co-governance," bridging enterprises and tax governance. Their core value lies in customizing tax plans, guiding scientific decision-making, and promoting a shift from passive compliance to active law-abiding in enterprises, achieving a win-win situation between development and compliance. In the new stage, it is necessary to take the rule of law as the bottom line, professionalism as the support, and collaboration as the path, to balance the service subjects and tax order, becoming both builders of tax modernization and fulfilling the mission of serving the modernization of China in the current era.