A new personal income tax app, developed by the State Administration of Taxation (SAT), has been launched to help taxpayers receive additional deductions on taxable personal income, after a new rule on personal income tax was introduced recently.

Taxpayers can download the app from popular app stores or from the related official websites of tax authorities by scanning a QR code for the app. They can register with their real names.

The app is currently in its last phase of function and pressure testing. The function of filling out digital forms of specific additional deductions that can be submitted to tax authorities will be officially put into use on Dec. 31, 2018. The deductions include children’s education, continuing education, healthcare treatment for serious diseases, mortgage interest, rent and elderly care.

SAT Administrator Wang Jun inspected Beijing for preparations for personal income tax reform on Dec. 26. He called on tax officials to try their best to help taxpayers submit information of specific additional deductions.

At the SAT 12366 Beijing Taxpayer Service Center, Wang learned that there were more calls about personal income tax from taxpayers recently, an increase to 30 percent from 10 percent, focusing on the specific additional deductions and how to deduct. He urged the center to provide authoritative, targeted and effective explanations of the deduction policy.

As the deduction policy covers so many areas and involves complicated scenarios, better governance is required to further reduce tax burdens. SAT Statistics show that tax authorities at all levels have offered 250,000 personal tax training sessions for over 63 million taxpayers and 2.3 million withholding agents.