Once you have a license you must file returns; zero income still means on-time zero filing (a return that is all zeros)

After the license, file taxes on schedule. Earn nothing—you still file, with zeros throughout. Failure to file: ordered to correct within a time limit, and may be fined up to 2000 yuan; serious cases, 2000–10000 yuan. Skip all tax types for three straight months and the system automatically marks you as an abnormal taxpayer—you can't issue invoices.

Cost

No money. File yourself on the e-Tax portal monthly or quarterly—minutes each time. Paid bookkeeping is a separate market expense. If you hire people, also register for social insurance within 30 days from the formation date. The hard part is remembering to file on months with no business.

Benefit

«Taxpayers with no tax payable in the period shall still file tax returns as required»—zero tax due that period, the form is still due. Late filing: «the tax authority shall order correction within a time limit and may impose a fine of up to 2000 yuan; if the circumstances are serious, a fine of 2000 yuan or more and up to 10000 yuan.» Fail to file and underpay: tax is recovered, daily late fees are added, plus a fine of 50% or more and up to 5 times the underpaid tax. Late fees accrue at 0.05% per day. «If no tax return is filed for any tax type for three consecutive months, the tax collection system automatically designates the taxpayer as an abnormal account and stops use of the invoice purchase book and invoices.» Three months of no filing → abnormal status; you can't obtain or issue invoices. After catch-up filing and accepting the penalty, status clears automatically. Employers who hire people «shall, within 30 days from the date of establishment … apply to the local social insurance agency for social insurance registration» (nationwide).

Notes

After «multi-certificate integration» you don't separately register for tax. Log into e-Tax with the unified social credit code on the business license, confirm registration information, and declare which taxes you owe. Sole proprietors and individual-owned enterprises pay individual income tax on business income—prepay «within 15 days after the end of the month or quarter», then «complete annual reconciliation by 31 March of the year after the income was earned» (year-end true-up, refund or top-up). LLCs pay corporate income tax—prepay monthly or quarterly; annual reconciliation «within five months from year-end», deadline 31 May of the next year. No opening still means filing; zero filing is still filing. Leave it three months and you become abnormal; invoices stop. The 2025 enterprise deregistration guide states that before tax deregistration an abnormal taxpayer «must first clear abnormal status and make up tax filings». How to exit: item 23.

Sources · 6

1. 国务院 (2002). 税收征收管理法实施细则（国务院令第 362 号，第三十二、七十五条）. fgk.chinatax.gov.cn/zcfgk/c100010/c5195082/co…
2. 全国人大常委会 (2015). 税收征收管理法（2015 年修正，第二十五、三十二、六十二、六十四条）. fgk.chinatax.gov.cn/zcfgk/c100009/c5195081/co…
3. 国家税务总局 (2019). 关于税收征管若干事项的公告（国家税务总局公告 2019 年第 48 号，第三条）. fgk.chinatax.gov.cn/zcfgk/c100012/c5195194/co…
4. 全国人大常委会 (2018). 个人所得税法（2018 年修正，第十二条）. fgk.chinatax.gov.cn/zcfgk/c100009/c5193028/co…
5. 全国人大常委会 (2018). 社会保险法（2018 年修正，第五十七条）. npc.gov.cn/zgrdw/npc/xinwen/2019-01/07/conten…
6. 全国人大常委会 (2018). 企业所得税法（2018 年修正，第五十四条）. flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff8080816f135f46016f…（国家法律法规数据库） ; 市场监管总局等六部门 (2025). 企业注销指引（2025 年修订）（2025 年第 52 号公告）. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202512/content_70532…