Circular on Income Tax Issues of Partners of Partnerships
关于合伙企业合伙人所得税问题的通知
The Circular specifies the method for apportionment of taxable income among partners of partnerships.
(Issued by the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation on December 23 2008 and effective as of January 1 2008.)
(财政部、国家税务总局于二零零八年十二月二十三日发布，自二零零八年一月一日起执行。)
Cai Shui [2008] No.159
财税 [2008] 159号
Finance departments (bureaux), offices of the State Administration of Taxation and local taxation bureaux of the provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government and cities with independent development plans, and the Finance Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corp:
各省、自治区、直辖市、计划单列市财政厅（局）、国家税务局、地方税务局，新疆生产建设兵团财务局：
Pursuant to relevant provisions of the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law, its Implementing Regulations and the PRC Individual Income Tax Law, we hereby notify you on income tax issues of partners of partnerships as follows:
根据《中华人民共和国企业所得税法》及其实施条例和《中华人民共和国个人所得税法》有关规定，现将合伙企业合伙人的所得税问题通知如下：
1. For the purposes of this Circular, the term “partnership” means a partnership established in accordance with laws and administrative regulations of China.
一、本通知所称合伙企业是指依照中国法律、行政法规成立的合伙企业。
2. Each of the partners in a partnership is a taxpayer. If the partners in a partnership are natural persons, they shall pay individual income tax; if the partners are legal persons or other organisations, they shall pay enterprise income tax.
二、合伙企业以每一个合伙人为纳税义务人。合伙企业合伙人是自然人的，缴纳个人所得税；合伙人是法人和其他组织的，缴纳企业所得税。
3. The production and other business income and other income of a partnership shall be subject to the principle of “apportion first, then tax”. The calculation of the specific taxable income shall be conducted in accordance with relevant provisions of the Provisions for the Levy of Individual Income Tax on Investors in Wholly Individually-owned Enterprises and Partnerships (Cai Shui [2000] No.91) and the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation, Circular on Issues Relevant to the Revision of the Rates of Pre-tax Deductions from Individual Income Tax of Family Proprietorships, Wholly Individually-owned Enterprises and Partnerships (Cai Shui [2008] No.65).
三、合伙企业生产经营所得和其他所得采取“先分后税”的原则。具体应纳税所得额的计算按照《关于个人独资企业和合伙企业投资者征收个人所得税的规定》（财税[2000]91号）及《财政部 国家税务总局关于调整个体工商户个人独资企业和合伙企业个人所得税税前扣除标准有关问题的通知》（财税[2008]65号）的有关规定执行。
The “production and other business income and other income” mentioned in the preceding paragraph includes the income distributed to all of the partners by the partnership and the income (profit) retained by the partnership during the year in question.
前款所称生产经营所得和其他所得，包括合伙企业分配给所有合伙人的所得和企业当年留存的所得（利润）。
4. The partners of a partnership shall determine their taxable income in accordance with the following principles:
四、合伙企业的合伙人按照下列原则确定应纳税所得额：
(1) the partners of the partnership shall determine their taxable income in proportion to their respective shares of the production and other business income and other income of the partnership as specified in the partnership agreement;
（一）合伙企业的合伙人以合伙企业的生产经营所得和其他所得，按照合伙协议约定的分配比例确定应纳税所得额。
(2) if the partnership agreement is silent or unclear on such proportion, their taxable income shall be determined based on the proportions of all of the production and other business income and other income distributed to them as decided by the partners through consultations;
（二）合伙协议未约定或者约定不明确的，以全部生产经营所得和其他所得，按照合伙人协商决定的分配比例确定应纳税所得额。
(3) if the consultations are unsuccessful, their taxable income shall be determined based on all of the production and other business income and other income, and in proportion to their respective capital contributions;
（三）协商不成的，以全部生产经营所得和其他所得，按照合伙人实缴出资比例确定应纳税所得额。
(4) if their capital contributions cannot be determined, the taxable income of each partner shall be the average of all of the production and other business income and other income calculated based on the number of partners.
（四）无法确定出资比例的，以全部生产经营所得和其他所得，按照合伙人数量平均计算每个合伙人的应纳税所得额。
The partnership agreement may not specify that all of the profit will be distributed to only some of the partners.
合伙协议不得约定将全部利润分配给部分合伙人。
5. If the partners of a partnership are legal persons or other organisations, they may not, when calculating the enterprise income tax payable by them, use the losses of the partnership to reduce their profits.
五、合伙企业的合伙人是法人和其他组织的，合伙人在计算其缴纳企业所得税时，不得用合伙企业的亏损抵减其盈利。
6. The foregoing provisions shall be effective as of January 1 2008. In the event of a conflict between this Circular and previous provisions, this Circular shall prevail.
clp reference:3230/08.12.23prc reference:财税 [2008] 159号promulgated:2008-12-28effective:2008-01-01六、上述规定自2008年1月1日起执行。此前规定与本通知有抵触的，以本通知为准。
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