Companies and sole proprietors must file the prior year's annual report online from 1 January to 30 June each year—even with no business; filing is free

Companies and sole proprietors must file last year's annual report online in the first half of each year. Missing it puts you on the abnormal operation list; after catch-up filing you can apply to leave. Filing is free. Calls saying you missed it and must pay via a mini-program or official account are scams—lead defendants have been sentenced to over 10 years. Check the publicity system yourself first.

Cost

No money. Log into the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System yourself once a year. Sole proprietors may also file on paper. Annual reports go to market regulation; they are separate from monthly or quarterly tax filing to the tax bureau. Filing tax does not mean you filed the annual report. The hard part is remembering once a year.

Benefit

Companies must «from 1 January to 30 June each year, submit the prior year's annual report to market supervision through the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, and make it public». Late filing: listed on the abnormal operation list, «and given administrative penalties according to law». The list is on the publicity system—anyone can look it up. In government procurement and project bidding, listed firms are restricted or barred. Sole proprietors likewise file the prior year's report from 1 January to 30 June, online or on paper. Sole props opened that year start reporting the next year. Sole props may choose whether report contents are public, but failure to file still puts them on the abnormal list. Listed for missing reports: after filing the missing years, apply to the registration-place market supervision department to leave the list. Company: 2 consecutive years no report, still on the list unchanged, and unreachable at the registered address → business license revoked. Company annual reports must be public. Sole props who choose not to publicize content still show «annual report already submitted» on the system—so whether you filed and whether you're listed is visible online. SAMR has warned of a scam: someone «impersonates market supervision staff» by phone, says you are overdue and already on the abnormal list, then «guides you to search a so-called mini-program or official account» and pay for agency filing. SAMR's line is «annual reports are free». Filing and leaving the abnormal list «must go through official channels such as the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System». Courts have convicted such cases as fraud. Anhui Jingde court finished one: a registration agency had callers «deliberately hide their identity» so sole props thought they were market supervision; callers steered people to a third-party mini-program charging 98–398 yuan as «manual filing materials fees». They cheated 10099 sole props nationwide for more than 3190000 yuan. Three lead defendants got 10 years 6 months to 10 years 8 months for fraud. In a Jiaxing Nanhu case, the mini-program fine print said «filing is free»; the court still convicted fraud because callers «deliberately hid that operators can file online and inventing large-fine stories». Nine people got 8 months to 4 years (nationwide).

Notes

On a call saying you missed the annual report, hang up, log into the publicity system yourself, or call the registration-place market supervision department. Don't follow SMS links, and don't pay on stranger mini-programs or official accounts. Same playbook as fake tax-bureau calls—see item 14. If you already transferred, call 110 or 96110 at once for stop payment. Individual-business annual report rules and enterprise abnormal-operation list rules were amended twice in 2025; the current version took effect 25 December 2025. Annual report and tax filing are separate; how to file tax: item 12. After license revocation, a responsible legal representative is barred for 3 years—see item 23. If you don't plan to continue, deregister under that item; don't stall by skipping the annual report. Primary beneficiary: yourself.

Sources · 5

1. 国务院 (2024 修订). 企业信息公示暂行条例（国务院令第 777 号修订，第八、十八、十九条）. flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff8081819c46fcc5019c…（国家法律法规数据库）；市场监管总局 (2025). 关于修改《个体工商户年度报告办法》等四部规章的决定（市场监管总局令第 108 号，附重新公布的个体工商户年度报告办法第三、五、八、十、十三、十六条，企业经营异常名录管理办法第六、十一条）. gov.cn/gongbao/2026/issue_12546/202602/conten…
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4. 安徽省旌德县人民法院 (2025). 冒充市场监管人员以年审申报收费诈骗个体工商户案（无锡市市场监督管理局转载）. scjgj.wuxi.gov.cn/doc/2025/03/20/4524579.shtml
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